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CANNON AND CAMERA 



L 



CANNON AND CAMERA 



SEA AND LAND BATTLES OF 

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 

IN CUBA, CAMP LIFE, AND THE 

RETURN OF THE SOLDIERS 



Described and Illustrated 

By JOHN C. HEMMENT 

War Artist at the Front 



With Index, and an Introduction by 
ir. I. LINCOLN ADAMS 




NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1898 






18532 



Copyright, 1898, 
Bv D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 



A// rights in Text and Illustrations 
are reserved. 



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\oM^b3'b vAravJ^'^«^'i> 



JUebicatcb to mn tOifc, 






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PREFACE 



I AM more familiar with the camera than 
with the pen. but my range of personal ex- 
periences has been so wide during the Span- 
ish-American War that I have been led to 
hope that this record of what I have seen in 
camps, on battlefields, and on shipljoard will 
prove of interest and value to readers. 

My thanks are due to a very old friend, 
Mr. A. J. Kenealy, who took my work in hand 
and kindlv saw the pages through the press. 

J. C. H. 

New York, October i, i8g8. 



f 



INTRODUCTION. 



The practical application of modern 
photography is daily becoming more wide- 
spread and useful. The camera is now a 
most important product of our nineteenth- 
century civilization. It is an almost indis- 
pensable instrument in nearly every profes- 
sion and all the sciences. 

Reproductive photography has revolu- 
tionized periodical and book illustration. 
The photo-engraver's camera has been for 
several years a most important agent in the 
preparation of the great daily newspaper, as 
well as the illustrated weekly and monthly 
magazine; and the improved hand camera is 
almost as important an implement in the out- 
fit of a special correspondent as his pencil 
and notebook. It is more effective and 
satisfactory than the sketching pad, and has 
consequently superseded it. 



X CANNON AND CAMERA. 

The camera has long been a favourite im- 
plement of the chase, capturing the image of 
game whicli it did not kill. But it remained 
for the author of this book to demonstrate its 
effectiveness as an instrument of war. Pho- 
tographs have been made heretofore of camp 
life, the fields of military operations, and naval 
manfEuvres, l)Ut so far as I know Mr. Hem- 
ment is the first photographer to obtain a 
complete pictorial description of an entire 
war, including not only the pictures of life in 
camp or on board the men-of-war, but also 
faithful views of actual engagements both on 
land and sea. 

Mr. Hemment has been a recognised lead- 
er for a number of years among the most skil- 
ful ])hotographers of the country, especially 
in instantaneous work. ha\-ing successfully 
photographed with his special ap])aratus — 
designed for him after his own directions — 
the most difficult athletic events. An athlete, 
also, himself, he was peculiarly well fitted to 
undert.nko the hazardous entor])risc of photo- 
graphing the scenes and deeds of the recent 
war with Spain. 

That he has done his \\()rk well and com- 



INTRODUCTION. xi 

pletely the following pages fully attest. His 
pictures and account begin with the exciting 
scenes which followed the destruction of the 
battle ship Maine, include characteristic 
scenes in the various American camps, de- 
pict the stirring deeds of our squadron before 
Santiago de Cuba, and end with the opera- 
tions which resulted in the fall of that city 
and the victorious close of the war. 

Mr. Hemment was not satisfied to photo- 
graph only those scenes which could be 
caught without danger to himself; he made 
some of his most successful pictures to the 
thrilling accompaniment of Spanish Mauser 
bullets. It is therefore to his courage as a 
man as well as to his skill as a photographer 
that we owe this very satisfactory pictorial ac- 
count of the war for Cuba's independence. 

W. I. Lincoln Adams. 

New York. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTHR 



PAGE 



Introduction by W. I. Lincoln Adams, ix 

I.— The blowing up of the Maine . . i 
My arrival in Havana — The wreck of the 
Maine— Welcomed by Captain Sigsbee and Con- 
sul-General Lee — Hostility of the Spanish volun- 
teers — Insults to Americans — An arrest and escape 
— Arrival of the Montgomery — The Board of In- 
quiry — The camera in the bull ring — With Senator 
Proctor among the reconcentrados — Brutal Span- 
ish soldiers — Our train attacked by insurgents — 
I bribe the custom-house officers and depart with 
photographs of the forts. 

II. — S0LDIER.S IN CAMP '. . . . . 40 

Scenes at Hempstead — Effects of red tape — 
Drilling volunteers — Unsanitary conditions in 
camps North and South — Red tape and transpor- 
tation. 

III.— Off for the seat of war ... 61 

My work in packing my photographic and 

other supplies — Lessons learned in Cuba stand 

me in good stead — Medical stores and comforts 

— My shipmates and my vessel — Our stay at 

Jamaica, where we buy polo ponies, and take in 

necessary stores. 

xiii 



xi^. CANNON AND CAMERA. 

CIIAITER PAGE 

I\'.— Landinc. in thk knk.mv's countrv . 70 _ 
Our first encounter with the American navy 
— Welcomed by Admiral Sampson and received 
by Ceneral Shafter — Interview with General Car- 
cia, of the Cuban army — Insurgents made glad by 
presents of rations — Delight of our troops at land- 
ing — The Red Cross Society begins its work of 
mercy. 

v.— WiiH Sh.aI'Ter .and his staff . . 87 
I follow the general on a reconnoitering ex- 
pedition in the direction of Santiago, and photo- 
graph the graves of the Rough Riders — From 
the summit of a lofty tree 1 get my first view 
of Santiago — A tropical storm and difficult roads 
make tiavelling arduous — Where the Rough 
Riders were killed. 

\'I. — .\KT UNDER DIFFICULTIES ... 98 

In the dark room on the Sylvia — Quick work 
in printing — Back to Santiago again — A despatch 
boat's devices. 

VII.— Bombardment of Morro Castle 106 

The Sylvia in the thick of the fight— A visit to 
a wounded war correspondent on the Olivette. 

\T!1. - .Among thk Cuban pickets . . .114 
Warfare of Cubans and Spaniards — Our men 
suqirised while bathing — A battle in undress — 
We repulse the attack — Disguises and am- 
bushes. 

I.\. TlIK MULE IN IHK ( A M I'AIC.N . . .1:4 

I'ack trains and their drivers — Transporting 
stores and ammunition — The mule confirms his 
reputation for wisdom. 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER . PAGE 

X. — In camp with the soldiers . .130 

Incidents during the advance on Santiago — 
Hard-tack sandwiches and cartridge pudding — 
Foraging for cocoanuts and mangoes — Evening 
amusements — The difficulties of letter writing. 

XI. — The siege of Santiago . . .135 

Advance to the front under difficulties — 
Graves of the Rough Riders — Observations by 
balloon — Grimes's battery opens fire — Response 
by shrapnel — In the thick of the fight — Bravery 
of the Seventy-first. 

XII. — The charge at El Caney . . .164 

Heroism of our colored troops — Bold dash for 
the fort — A correspondent's wound — A non-com- 
batant's prisoners — Victory at last — Some unex- 
pected horrors. 

XIII.— Our bold Rough Riders . . .178 

Colonel Roosevelt as a fighter — He inspires 
his brave men — Heroes in the field — Sad scenes 
in the hospitals — Criminal incompetence or what ? 
— Burial of a soldier without benefit of clergy. 

XIV. — Sharpshooters in action . . . 194 

Persecution by Spanish marksmen — Narrow 
escapes from death — The capture of the block- 
house — Life in the trenches — The roll call. 

XV. — The great naval battle . . . 206 

How Cervera's squadron put out of Santiago 
and was destroyed — Photographing the stranded 
ships — A capture of Spanish prisoners. 
I 



xvi CANNON AND CAMERA. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

X\'I.— Surrender of Santiago . . . 229 

General Miles prevents a retreat — General 
Toral yields to moral suasion and gives up the 
city. 

X\'1I.— Return of the Rough Riders . . 236 

General Wheeler and Colonel Roosevelt wel- 
comed at Camp Wikoff — Suffering of troops at 
Montauk Point — Home coming of the Seventy- 
first — Contrast between naval militia and volun- 
teers. 

Al'I'KNDIX 263 

Hints to amateur and professional photog- 
raphers. 

Index 273 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FACING 
PAGE 



The Maine passing Morro Castle, Havana Frontispiece 

The wreck of the Maine 

Fort Punta, Havana ...... 

The Spanish admiral leaving the U. S. S. Mont 

gomery ...-•••• 
Spanish divers at work on the wreck of the Maine 
Board of Inquiry in session at Havana 
Chaplain Chidwick superintending the transfer of 

bodies to the Bach ..... 
Chaplain Chidwick offering prayer at the graves 

of the Maine sailors in Colon Cemetery 
A narrow escape .....•• 
The final thrust .....■• 
Among the reconcentrados in the interior. 
Making photographs from the fighting top of the 

Maine ........ 

Camp Black, Hempstead, Long Island 
Peeling potatoes .....•• 

Breaking in raw recruits at Camp Black . 
Larned, the polo player, one of the Rough Riders 
Sergeant Goff, died at Camp Wikoff . 
Bob Wrenn, tennis champion, one of the Rough 

Riders ......•• 

Guard on outpost duty, Camp Black 
Troop A drilling at Camp Black 

xvii 



5 

lO 

14 
17 
24 

26 

29 

32 
32 
35 

3S 
41 

44 

47 
48 
48 

50 

52 
55 



XVlll 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



After drill at Camp Black 

The quartermaster's and commissary's department 

Seventy-first Regiment, Camp Black . 
Ready for company mess, Seventy-first Regiment 

Camp Black ....... 

Company H, Seventy-first Regiment, packing up 

On a transport bound for Santiago 

The New Orleans ...... 

Admiral Sampson ...... 

Michigan volunteers landing from transports at 

Siboney ....... 

Massachusetts volunteers landing at Siboney . 
Cuban soldiers watching the United States troop 

bathing ....... 

Cuban troops marching into Siljoney 

Garcia's headquarters ...... 

Cuban scouts going on outpost duty . 

Siboney, showing mountain climbed by the soldiers 

The engineer corps landing supplies . 

General Shafter and his staff 

General Shafter's headquarters at Playa 

Fort El Pozo, showing heavy dew and atmospheric 

effect after a rainstorm 
Developing negatives . 
In Siboney harbour 
The Texas . 
The Gloucester in action 
Morro Castle, Santiago 
A scout hiding under palm leaves 
Guantanamo Bay, Camp McCalla in distance 
A typical Cuban soldiers' tent . 
First blockhouse at Siboney, where the American 

flag was hoisted ...... 

Cuban scouts concealed behind stumps of trees 
Pack-mule train on the march .... 



FACING 
PAGE 

58 



61 

63 
64 

67 
70 

73 

74 
76 

78 
So 

83 
85 
87 
S8 
92 
95 

98 
100 
103 
107 
109 
112 
114 

117 
119 

121 
122 
125 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



XIX 



FACING 
PAGE 



Pack mule overcome by the heat while taking am 

munition to the front ..... 
Bill Hill's pack-mule train ready to move 
A camp at Las Guasimas ..... 
Cavalrymen preparing an early breakfast 
Regular officers in consultation .... 
Second United States cavalrymen turning out a 

reveille ........ 

The Sixth Infantry near San Juan 

Graves of the Rough Riders at Las Guasimas . 

The Seventy-first Regiment crossing the river at 

San Juan ....... 

Part of the Seventy-first Regiment, near El Pozo 

awaiting orders to the front 
In front of El Pozo ...... 

Rough Riders reconnoitring in front of El Pozo 
Cuban soldiers dodging shrapnel while looking for 

dead and wounded ..... 
Wounded of the Ninth Cavalry waiting for ambu 

lances ........ 

At the graves of the troopers of the Tenth Cavalry 

The fort and blockhouse at El Caney 

Spanish soldiers in the trenches at El Caney . 

Spanish prisoners captured at El Caney . 

Refugees on the way from Santiago to Siboney 

Seeking refuge before the bombardment . 

Colonel Roosevelt addressing the Naval Reserves at 

Fort Hamilton ...... 

Carrying a wounded officer to the hospital 

Major Wood, at Playa, directing disposition of the 

wounded ....... 

Wounded soldiers awaiting their turn at the operat 

ing tents ....... 

Cubans, near San Juan, carrying a wounded soldier 

to the rear . ...... 



126 
12S 
130 
132 
134 

137 
139 
141 

142 

144 
147 
151 



158 
161 
165 
169 
172 

175 
176 

iSi 
1S4 

186 

18S 

191 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



A wounded Rouf,'h Rider being helped to hospital 

by Cubans ....... 

Members of the Seventy-first Regiment searchin 

for sharpshooters ..... 

On the hunt for Spanish sharpshooters near Sa 

Juan ........ 

The town of El Caney the day after the battle . 
Spanish lieutenants on the way to General Shafter' 

headquarters ...... 

United States trooper and Cuban scouts trailin 

Spanish sharpshooters . 
The wreck of the Viscaya . 
The wreck of the Cristobal Colon 
The Oregon in fighting trim 
Cuban soldiers awaiting Spanish sailors 
An interior view of the wrecked Viscaya 
Starboard-bow view of the Viscaya . 
Our party capturing Spanish sailors . 
The wreck of the Oquendo 
The Maria Teresa .... 
Lieutenant Hobson and commission boarding th 

Maria Teresa ...... 

Interior view of the Maria Teresa 
The wreck of the Reina Mercedes 
Port-side view of the Maria Teresa, showing gun 

without breech blocks ..... 
The New York signalling off Santiago 
Rough Riders assembled at Camp Wikoff on day of 

arrival ......... 

General Wheeler and General Young at Camp Wikoff 
Colonel Roosevelt greeted by Mrs. John A. Logan 

on his arrival at Camp Wikoff .... 
The Rough Riders' first meal at Camp Wikoff . 
Lieutenants "Yale" Greenway and Woodbury Kane 

writing telegrams ...... 



FACING 
PAGE 



KJI 
198 



204 
208 
211 
213 
214 
216 
218 
220 
222 
224 

226 
229 
231 

234 

236 
239 

242 
244 

246 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxi 



PAGE 



Hospital tent, Camp Wikoff 248 

Carrying away the sick and wounded at Camp 

Wikoff ......... 250 

The Seventy-first Regiment leaving the train at 

Long Island City ....... 252 

The Seventy-first Regiment on the ferryboat arriv- 
ing at the Battery ...... 254 

Honours to the Seventy-first Regiment on Broadway 256 
The Seventy-first Regiment on Fifth Avenue . . 258 
The depleted ranks of the colour company, Seventy- 
first Regiment ....... 260 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 

My arrival in Havana — The wreck of the Maine — Welcomed 
by Captain Sigsbee and Consul-General Lee— Hostility of 
the Spanish volunteers — Insults to T^mericans— An arrest 
and escape — Arrival of the Montgomery — The Board of In- 
quiry — The camera in the bull ring — With Senator Proctor 
among the reconcentrados — Brutal Spanish soldiers — Our 
train attacked by insurgents — I bribe the custom-house 
officers and depart with photographs of the forts. 

The cable despatch announcing the l)low- 
ing up of the battle-ship Maine in Havana har- 
bour on February 15, 1898, came to me as 
a great shock. Of all the vessels in Uncle 
Sam's navy, she was more endeared to me 
than any other. I had known all her crew, 
from Captain Crowninshield down to the 
youngest apprentice boy. The ofiticer with 
whom I was perhaps most intimate was Lieu- 
tenant Jenkins, and just before the sailing of 



2 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

llic vessel from the I'-rooklyn Xavy Yard 1 
had lunclied wilh him in tlie warth-ooni. He 
spoke cheerily ahoiu the war ship's mission, 
as was his custom. If he had any premonition 
of peril in the comins;- trip, he effectually con- 
cealed it from me. .\s we parted at the gang- 
way, he wrun_c: niy hand cordially and prom- 
ised to look me up at my studio on his return. 

Little did 1 think then that the next time 
I was destined to see him would be when 
his almost unrecognisable body was brought 
to the surface of the harboin" of Havana by an 
American diver. 

I was familiar with every inch of the 
Maine, having photograi)he(l her from nearly 
every effective standi)oint. J^ach successive 
telegram from the scene of the disaster 
was eagerlv scanned by me for news of 
my friends aboard, and 1 was much af- 
fected when the name of Lieutenant jeid<ins 
appeared amonn;' the lost. .\s the exidence 
grew more and more convincing that the 
Maine had been sent to the l)Ottom by S]ian- 
ish treachery. I grew correspondingly more 
eager, for ])crsonal and professional reasons, 
to reach Havana and observe for mvself. 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 3 

It did not take me long to make arrange- 
ments for starting. I was instructed by the 
United States Government to take photo- 
graphs of the shattered ship, and Secretary 
Long of the navy furnished me with a letter 
to Captain Sigsliee, who had succeeded Cap- 
tain Crowninshield in command of the Maine, 
requesting him to make my task as easy as 
possible. In addition to this. I had several 
commissions from pictorial papers, so that, 
in packing up my traps for the trip. I in- 
cluded a large supply of photographic neces- 
saries, not knowing of a certainty whether 
my wants could be filled in the Cuban capital, 
this being my first visit to the Pearl of the 
Antilles. 

It was on Saturday. February 19. four 
days after the destruction of the Maine, that 
I embarked on the Seguranca. bound from 
\ew York to Havana. My friends fiocked 
to the dock in large numbers to see me off 
and wish me good luck. Nothing of conse- 
quence occurred on the passage to interest 
the public. The only matter of personal in- 
terest was that my old enemy seasickness, 
with which I am afflicted in fair weather and 



4 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

foul. aL;ain attacked mo. Xothini^' else was 
talked about hut the destruction of the Maine, 
and nearly all on hoard hlanied the S|)an- 
iards. 

( )n Wednesday niorninj;- we sighted in the 
distance old Morro Castle, stately and beau- 
tiful, a mass of solid battlemented masonry 
before which the lofty lis^hthouse, one hun- 
dred and forty feet in height, stands up like 
a giant sentry. The observatory and signal 
station are in the castle, which was built in 
1589, and was at that time doubtless a formi- 
dable defence, but its gray stone walls, mas- 
sive as they are. would soon crumble and suc- 
cumb to the blows of modern projectiles. 

The entrance to the harbour is |)ictur- 
es(|ue. Morro Castle and white- walled Fort 
Cabana on the east and Castle Punta on the 
west were so attractive that I lexelled mv 
camera on them with excellent results, con- 
tinning my operations as we steamed up the 
bay. taking photographs of all the fortifica- 
tions and other objects that a])pealed to mv 
artistic sense. .Xnd so I worked on until we 
came abreast of the sunken Maine. 

The shattered shi]) at this time was a sight 




I i 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 5 

which I shall never forget. I had last seen 
her, beautiful, g-raceful, and majestic in all 
her strength, floating lazily on the waters of 
Chesapeake Bay, all hands on board in good 
spirits, jolly and gay, and they were as fine 
a lot of fellows as ever served under the flag 
of Uncle Sam. 

Hence, when I saw her now, an unrecog- 
nisable mass of twisted, mangled, charred 
scrap iron, formerly the home, now the sepul- 
chre, of so many brave men, it would 1)e dif- 
ficult to portray accurately my emotions. 
The vessel was lacerated and mutilated be- 
yond recognition. A single mast alone re- 
mained. Her massive steel beams and 
p-irders were bent and twisted. Her funnels 
and ventilators were rent and distorted. 1 
was overcome. I could not possibly believe 
that this battered hulk was once the battle 
ship I knew so well. 

We passed beyond her to an anchorage 
not far distant, and there began the work of 
disembarkation. The day was a scorcher; 
such heat I had never encountered. I was 
not in any way prepared for this high tem- 
perature, but lost no time in getting my traps 



6 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

together and lowered into one of those boats 

that surround e\ery incoming steamer, 
maimed by land sharks eager to prey on 
strangers luckless enough to fall into their 
clutches. W iiii hag and ])aggage we were 
hurtled oti to the custom house, where we 
were the observed of all observers, (irins on 
the debased and begrimed faces of the ped- 
dling women and supercilious sneers on the 
countenances of the haughty dons ga\e us to 
understand that we were looked upon as in- 
truders, and treated as such. The custom- 
house officials stood round wailing foj- some- 
thing, I know not what. Soon a hotel pro- 
prietor came to our rescue, lie told u> that 
the I'asaje Motel was the only high-class 
hostelry in lla\ana. We had heard of the 
Inglaterra, but u]) to that time the fame of 
the Tasaje had not reached us. The en- 
treaties of mine host, howe\er, were so win- 
ning, and it wris apparent that he had so strong 
a ■■ pull " with all the officials, that I yielded 
to his blandishments, and was led o(T an easv 
prey, lie reminded me of the typical S])an- 
ish innkeeper. portra\ed so vi\idly in Gil Bias 
and I^on Ouixote. ilaj)pily, 1 was nt)t alone; 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 7 

Others had joined me, ready hke myself to 
enchire with patience and philosophy any- 
thing that might befall. Our baggage was 
piled into one of those numerous mule wag- 
ons that swarm in every street, and we were 
ushered into a rather rickety coupe and 
started otT for the Pasaje. The first thing 
that struck me was the noticeable narrowness 
of the streets and the comparative absence of 
sidewalks. 

Obispo Street, through which we passed, 
was hung from side to side and end to end 
with what the natives were pleased to term 
their t^ag of " blood and gold." From every 
possible place the eye met the Spanish col- 
ours. Not a single Cuban flag was visible. 
x\fter passing through several streets crowded 
with queer-looking individuals, who seemed 
as though they would be benefited by a bath 
and a full meal, we arrived at the hotel. To 
us the landlord and his servants were all 
urbanity, bowing, scraping, and patting us 
on the back in a manner so effusive as to be 
offensive. 

We were shown to our rooms almost im- 
mediately. A l)ed surrounded by a mosquito 



8 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

canopy occupied the middle of niv chamber. 
'Ihi.s was (HscouraL;in^-. for if there is one in- 
.sect on earth wliich seems able to ])erforni 
cre(htal)]e sleuth work where 1 am the hunted 
object, it is the moscpiito. My room had no 
windows, a tiled floor, and a wooden ceiline^. 
It opened into a courtyard i)retty well hlled 
with .S])anis]i army officers, regulars and aux- 
iliaries. This liotel. by the way, was cpiite 
a liead(|uarters for the officers of tlie Havana 
vohinteers. 

Soon dinner was rumomiced. It was a 
puzzler for me. the bill of fare l)ein^- printed 
in .Spanish, and. as my Spanisli vocabulary 
was in inverse ratio to my appetite. 1 feared 
the worst. IIowe\er. 1 contri\ed to make 
known my wants to the waiter at our table. 
Idiis waiter was a character. While he served 
us with |»Teat j)oliteness, and was ol)se(|uious- 
ly ser\ile in our presence. 1 noticed that when 
lie went back to the kitchen a sinister sneer 
came over his swarthy countenance, which 
seemed to say, " ( )h. those pii^^s! " On my 
left and ri^ht, in front and behind, at nearly 
e\ery table in the restaurant, one or two 
Spanish ot'tlcers sat. The\' did not look as 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. g 

though they were in Havana for war, but 
simply for pleasure. They were accom- 
panied by wives and sweethearts, friends 
and children, and were thoroughly enjoying 
themselves. The scene recalled the frivolities 
of Paris. 

After dinner I strolled up to the Casa 
Inglaterra. This hotel was the headquarters 
for the ol^cers and newspaper men in gen- 
eral, and everything that was going on was 
hrst known there. Having with me Secre- 
tary Long's letter to Captain Sigsbee, I went 
in search of him. On presenting my creden- 
tials, I cotild not help being impressed by 
his frank and earnest face, which bore well- 
defined traces of the fearful mental strain of 
the past few days. His was indeed an ardu- 
ous position, but he passed through the grim 
ordeal as a brave American sailor should, re- 
flecting credit on his coimtry and compelling 
the admiration of friend and foe. Captain 
Sigsbee knew that I had come to make photo- 
graphs for the Government. He told me that 
he would be pleased to help me in obtaining 
good pictures of the wreck of the Maine, 
and I am indebted to him and Lieutenant- 



lO CANNON AND CAMERA. 

Comniander W'ainwri^-ht, executive officer 
of the Maine, for many courtesies. 

At a tal)le in tlie dining room of the hotel 
sat General Fitzhugh Lee, the American con- 
sul general. When dinner was over and I 
had l)een presented to the general 1)\- one of 
the many newspaper correspondents. 1 took 
the opportunity to present a letter of intro- 
duction to him which I had from Mr. W. j. 
.\rkcll. The general shook me heartily by 
the hand. and. dul)l)ing me " captain." saitl 
that lie would be pleased to do anything he 
possiljly could for me. I felt at last as 
though I were at home again, and after a 
time I strolled hack to the Pasaje and went 
to bed. 

.\fter a good night's rest. I woke in the 
morning and came down to the breakfast 
room at al)()ul haH' past seven. onl\- to find 
that no breakfast was served so early. It is 
the Spanish custom to take but a cup of cof- 
fee, go to btisiness for two or three hours, ami 
to take breakfast at i i a. m. in Cuba scarce- 
ly any work is done in the middle of the day. 
the heat being so intense. Offices and l)anks 
close from i i a. m. until 2 \\ m. 







IffiiSISttM 




THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. i i 

After breakfast I got my camera and plates 
together, and with my assistant stowed my- 
self away in a one-horse vehicle (my rever- 
ence for age debars me from attempting to 
describe it), which took us to the wharves 
and docks. There we found characters and 
scenes galore. I walked along the water 
front from the San Francisco dock to the 
Regla Ferry, making pictures of everything 
that struck my fancy. This part of Havana 
reminded me of ^^'est Street, Xew York. 
Here ships filled with all kinds of grain and 
provisions were being unloaded by Spaniards 
and Cubans. The rowdy element was pres- 
ent on all sides, and as I passed from dock 
to dock I not unfrequently heard the remark 
which translated means, " The dirtv Ameri- 
cans! " While they did not insult us openly 
to our face, sneers, jeers, and ridicule were 
everywhere encountered. 

My ignorance of the Spanish language 
prevented me from comprehending the mean- 
ing of their words, but I drew my conclusions 
from the malign expression of their counte- 
nances. \Xe came to a gang on a dock, all of 
whom pointed to the wreck of the Maine with 



12 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

uiiniistakal)lc ])ri(lc. Ilicy niailc us under- 
stan<l that they ^ioricd in tliat dastardlx- deed. 
and that they were sorry that all of our coun- 
trymen were not at the bottom of the sea. 
All liaxana knew that the Maine had been 
destroyed purposely, and only tlie educated 
classes affected to believe that the ship had 
l)een sunk by an interior explosion. The 
mob. incapable of artistic dissimulation, did 
not try to conceal their joy. Little did they 
then know in how short a time the\' would 
ha\'e to pay the awful ])cnalty of that terri- 
ble outrai^'e. 

My experience that afternoon taui^ht me 
that the best way to treat these jjeoplc was 
to take their insolence and say nothint;'. 

In passiui^ along the streets we continual- 
ly came in contact with the \'olunteer ele- 
ment, which was a most dangerous one. The 
Spanish xoluntccrs are bloodthirsty and fero- 
cious. The Cubans have reason to hale them. 
During the rebellion their cruelt}' t(j the Cu- 
bans was terrible. They maintained a reign 
of terror. l^xeryw here I went I was im- 
pressed b\- the bitter hatred that exists be- 
tween Castilian and Cuban. cause<l bv cen- 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 



13 



tiiries of tyranny and oppression. The vol- 
unteers exhibited it more than any other class 
of Spaniards. They were licensed lil)ertines, 
suffered only to exist because of their loy- 
alty to their government. They were perpet- 
ually looking for a fight, and would think no 
more of firing a bomb off in a public street 
than a cowboy on the " rampage " does of 
discharging his revolver in the air as he gal- 
lops through a frontier town in the far West. 
Beneath the thin veneer of vaunted Spanish 
chivalry which these volunteers affect, there 
lies a solid stratum of the baser qualities of 
degenerate humanity. I fear that in the re- 
construction of Cuba harsh measures will l)e 
necessary to bring them under control. 

The sidewalks, where they do exist, are 
narrow, and will accommodate pedestrians in 
single file only. The officers and the men 
of the volunteer regiments seemed to think 
that they had the right of way, and to me. 
carrying a camera which was rather weighty, 
stepping off the sidewalks all the time to 
allow one of these swashbucklers to pass 
seemed useless and monotonous exercise. I 
therefore made a rule for myself, and deter- 
3 



H 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



mined to liold niy own. witli my faitlifnl man 
to back me. On one occasion 1 enconntcrcd 
an officer of the Spanisli \-olunteers. and. de- 
clining^ to make way. remained on the side- 
walk. He glared at me in indignant amaze- 
ment becanse 1 did not get off for his ICxcel- 
lency. 1 stood and looked at liim for a while 
and simp]}' motioned, as mncli as to say: 
"This is mine; you get off this time." lie 
did not seem to understand wliat I meant, 
and as I could not tell him in his own lan- 
guage, and it was im])OSsible for liim to ask 
me in mine. I forced my way past him. with 
the result that he went oft'. Some foreign re- 
marks of an uncomplimentary character came 
from this gentleman, but 1 ])assed on un- 
heeding. 

This little encounter occurred on Cu\rd 
Street, where m}- dark room and little impro- 
\ised studio were located, so that 1 had to 
tra\-el up and down this street cpiite frecjuent- 
1\-. I enforced this regulation of m\' own 
making as far as possible. If 1 met one of 
the o])i)osite sex. a fashionablx' dressed wom- 
an, or a ])oor. emaciated creature with a baby 
on (.)ne arm and seseral more tanking at her 




The Spanish admiral leaving the U. S. S. Montgomery. 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 



15 



tattered garments, I invariably gave way, 
but whenever I met one of the haughty 
snobs of Spain's volunteers I took pleasure 
in showing him that he did not own all 
Havana. 

My duty sometimes called me to work 
rather late, developing my plates and getting 
my prints ready, so that it was often midnight 
before I left my studio. It was my misfor- 
tune on several occasions to have some of 
these volunteers walk close behind me, when 
they took great delight in spitting upon my 
person. Mark you, behind my Ijack! I felt 
this more than once, and knew it to be a 
fact, but I thought discretion the better part 
of valour, for had I resented this insult it 
would have l)een far worse for me. I knew 
that they were cowards, or they would never 
have done such mean tricks. I realized then 
that these Spanish volunteers would prove 
themselves poltroons in battle, for no man 
that is not a dastard will do behind another 
man's back what he dare not do to his face. 
One of the volunteers, a carpenter by trade, 
was so bitter against Americans that he re- 
fused to make a few necessarv alterations in 



l6 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

my studio, although I offered him iiaxiiient 
ai an cxtra\agant rate. 

It remained, liowever, for the arrival of 
the Montgomery to slunv the risk run by a 
man in the fullillment of his (hU\, and the 
ohl(j(|uy one meets in a hostile country. On 
the morning the Montgomery was sighted 
several miles off Morro I went down to Fort 
I'unta to await her j^assage into the narrow 
hay. During my wait I focussed my camera 
on Morro Castle just across the hay, when 
1 heard some one calling, as I thought, to 
deride and ridicule me. 1 paid no attention, 
when suddenly a gentleman came up to me 
and warned me that the garrison was about 
to fire on me. I looked up in amazement, 
and saw a com])an\- drawn u]) on the para- 
pet of Fort l^mta. ddieir guns were pointed 
at me as if they were just about to shoot. An 
officer mounted the ])ara])et. and. gesticulat- 
ing e.xcitedl}', yelled to me (in Spanish, as I 
afterward learned) that 1 was under arrest. 
1 was thus in a dangerous predicament, for I 
had entered this fort, without being hindered 
by the guards at the gate, with m\' camera 
and my plates. Aly assistant was with me 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 



17 



and my interpreter, the good and faithful 
Mike, stood by me as a brother would. He 
told me the officer was going to send a squad 
of men round to arrest me. 1 asked him why. 
and he replied that, from what he could make 
out from the officer, it was for photograph- 
ing the fort, which was an illegal act, pun- 
ishaljle in Havana with imprisonment, and 
perhaps with death. 

I at once realized my peril, and saw that 
there was little chance of escape, for I was 
conspicuously clad in a pair of linen trousers 
atitl a blue and white sweater. However, I 
ordered my man to move off in double-quick 
time with the camera and plates. This was 
comparatively easy, as people were allowed 
to enter this fort and go down to the water's 
edge without being molested. As the guard 
had to make a considerable detour of the 
fort before they could reach me. it gave my 
man ample time to escape, which he did suc- 
cessfully. 

When the guards arrived with drawn 
machetes, and accused me of having photo- 
grajihed the fort, I asked them how I could 
photograph the fort without a camera. Hieir 



l8 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

actions indicated tliat they thought I had a 
camera in ni\- pocket, for they examined me 
\]\) and down, and seemed nnicli surprised at 
not being" aljle to find it. I told them that 1 
was innocent, and Mike assured them that 
I was sim])ly an onlooker, and that the other 
man had done it. This recalled my boyhood 
days, when we used always to blame the other 
fellow. All excuses were in vain. I was 
marched off to the guardhouse and confront- 
ed with the captain of the guard. Mike was 
not allowed to accom])any me, so 1 thought 
that 1 was in for it; and so I was, for they 
conducted me to a dirty cell and gave me sar- 
castic smiles, which led me to think 1 was 
going to be a \ictim. 

In the meantime my man had gone to the 
American consul and told him of my predica- 
ment. General Lee said that if 1 had been 
so indiscreet as to ])hotograph the forts, he 
could i\n nothing for me. When Mike 
brought nie this news, 1 told him to ask the 
ca])tain of the guard to sunnncju the sentry 
from the post at the entrance to the fort and 
ask him if he saw me enter. 

Now, as luck wouUl ha\e it, this sentrv 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. m 

had given me permission to pass into the 
fort. As I was not carrying my camera, nor 
had anything on my person resembHng a 
camera, he certainly would have no evidence 
against me. This sentry proved my salvation. 
He told the captain of the guard that I en- 
tered the fort without a camera or anything 
resembling a camera, and that he knew me 
again by my blue-and-white jersey. In my 
heart I thanked good old Columbia College 
for adopting these colours, for they undoubt- 
edly saved me from perhaps a long imprison- 
ment. After the captain had consulted with 
several other othcers, they decided that there 
was no evidence against me, and let me go. 

By this time the Montgomery was right 
ofT the Morro. As soon as I could make my 
way outside of this Fort Punta, I looked 
round for my camera, and to my great de- 
light, skulking behind a wall which protects 
the street from the bay. I saw my faithful man 
Hughie. There he was, all ready to shoot. 
Taking advantage of the circumstance that 
the guards were all gazing seaward at the 
saucy Yankee cruiser, and were paying no 
attention to me, I started in and made pic- 



20 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

tiires of tlic Monl^oniory. Then I turned 
the lens wliieli ne\er lies tii)on this threat and 
wonderful fort, which at best is btit an anti- 
(juated ruin. I took this photograph just for 
spite, and then 1 followed the Montgomery 
into the inner l)ay. where we were hailed with 
derisive shotits. rotten onions, decayed pota- 
toes, and putrid fruit of every kind. Cries 
were heard from the warehouses along the 
water front that they had already sunk one 
of our ships, and wotdd serve the Montgom- 
ery in the same way. 

We encoimtered a mob at Caberellos 
which looketl rather threatening, but, as 1 
wanted to follow the ^Montgomery along and 
get good views of her as she entered the inner 
bay, we forced om'sehes through the crowd, 
being hustled and knocked about consider- 
ably. If ever T felt .strong, this was the time; 
but the masses were against me, and so I be- 
came pliant, and with cur\ed back and bend- 
ing knee wriggled my way through the mob. 
This rough treatment from the Spaniards 
lasted during oiu' walk along the water front. 
When we reached the Machina (custom 
house) a great crowd had assembletl. which 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 2 1 

was hooting, jeering, and calling the Mont- 
gomery all kinds of abnsive names, and in- 
dicating by pointing to the wrecked l^attle 
ship the fate they had in store for the 
cruiser. 

As the little Montgomery passed close by 
the Spanish men-of-war V^iscaya and Oquen- 
do. the mob indulged in more jeers, pointing 
out how easy it would be for the two great 
war ships to annihilate the American cockle- 
shell, whose size they ridiculed. The Span- 
iards, as I learned later, have a vocabulary 
remarkably rich in obscenity and profanity, 
and I believe that they exhausted it on the 
Alontgomery. Little did they know what 
sterling stuf¥ Captain Converse and his men 
are made of! If they had been fired on. the 
Montgomery would ha\'e sunk fighting, and 
would never have surrendered. 

At this point we took a boat manned by 
a Spaniard. Robustiano, who pulled out to 
the Montgomery, where I once more felt at 
home, and, drawing a little American flag 
from my pocket, I stood upright in the boat 
and waved it so that those on shore could see 
it plainly, and those on the cruiser still more 



22 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

SO. 'J'lie boys on the Montgomery, from the 
apprentice to the execntive oflicer. were 
anxious to cheer in return; but "Silence!" 
was ordered from the quarter-deck, and not 
a single response did we get. They did not 
want to make any demonstration whatever. 
This I was told afterward when I boarded 
the vessel. Captain Converse and his men 
said that they were pleased to see such a 
show of patriotism, but could not answer by 
cheering at that moment. 

.\fter making some good pictures of the 
Montgomery saluting the forts and the com- 
mandant, we stayed by her to see the officers 
exchange official courtesies, and became wit- 
nesses of the following incident: The S])an- 
ish admiral visited the Montgomery, and 
while on the deck of the vessel displayed all 
that oily suavity characteristic of his race. 
When leaving the vessel, and while still on 
her gangway at the starboard side, just before 
entering his barge, he stopped, drew out 
paper and tobacco, rolled and lighted a cigar- 
ette, and began smoking on the gangway of 
the Montgomery, throwing the small frag- 
ments of tobacco on the steps. This was an 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 



^l 



unpardonable breach of naval etiquette. An 
orderly was sent to go down and clean these 
specks off the gangway, which he did with 
much humorous officiousness. 

That night was an uneasy one for the boys 
of the Montgomery. Most of them slept on 
deck. In fact, the decks and the boats were 
crowded with men, who did not mean to go 
down with the Montgomery as their fellow- 
tars had with the Maine. Eternal vigilance 
was kept on everything, and nothing w^as al- 
lowed to approach the vessel without being 
hailed. This was hard for the men, who 
would have much preferred lighting a bold 
and open foe to guarding against a possible 
treacherous attack such as destroyed the 
Maine. 

In going to the wreck of the Maine to 
make photographs, I found her in a terrible 
condition. Spanish divers were at work on 
one end, and American divers on the other. 
Slowly the work proceeded. Bodies were 
being recovered, and scenes in themselves 
heartbreaking and distressing were occurring 
every hour. This did not seem to affect the 
Spaniards in the least. 



24 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



\\'hi]c the (li\ers were busy one afternoon 
hoisting up a six-inch gun, one of them re- 
l)orte(l tliat the l)0(ly of an officer was in the 
forward torpedo room. It was recovered a 
little later. The features were all but unrec- 
ognisable, l)Ut it was identified as being that 
of Lieutenant Jenkins. 1 was on the wreck 
when it was recovered, and was so much af- 
fected that I had not the heart to photograph 
it, for. as 1 remarked in the opening of this 
chapter, he was a dear friend of mine, a gal- 
lant officer, and ])oi)ular with his sliipmates. 

One day at a cheap restaurant in the Plaza 
de Lux they had on their l)ill of fare " chick- 
en fricassee a la ]\Iaine " — in fact, no oppor- 
tunitv was allowed to escape by which they 
could show their contem])t for the intrusion 
of the Americans. 

About this time the board of incpiiry ar- 
rived at Havana; they were there to secure 
evidence from the divers and survivors of the 
wreck. I secured a very good photograph of 
one of the sessions of the board, consisting 
of Admiral Samjison, Captain Chadwick, 
Conunander Potter, and Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Marix. with luisign Powelson on the 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 25 

witness stand. At the request of Captain 
Sigsbee and the judge advocate, Adolph Ma- 
nx, I made several photographs of the pieces 
of plates that had been torn by the force 
of the explosion from the forward part of the 
Maine. I did not know at the time I made 
them how important these pictures were, but 
when the report of the board went to Con- 
gress these photographs, which had been put 
in evidence, were conclusive beyond a doubt 
that the Maine had been wrecked from an 
external source, and that source a Spanish 
mine. It will thus be seen that my lens 
played a significant part in fixing the respon- 
sibility. It seems to me that the day is not 
far distant when those who plotted and exe- 
cuted this dastardly deed will be brought 
face to face with justice. A crime so stu- 
pendous can not remain forever unrevealed. 

Father Chidwick, chaplain of the Maine, 
could be seen flitting hither and thither, now 
on the shore and now afloat, caring for the 
bodies recovered from the wreck, placing 
them in their coffins, taking notes of all marks 
of identification on each victim, as well as 
those on their clothing, so that all means pos- 



26 CANNON AND CAMF.RA. 

sible for identitication would be had. Many 
of the l)odies were bront^ht ashore and re- 
ceixed an impressix-e burial. The Fire De- 
partment of Havana turned out and joined in 
the mournful procession, the reconcentrados 
contributed their numbers to increase the 
pageant, and many wreaths were brought and 
placed ujxin the biers of the victims, whose 
remains were taken to Colon Cemetery and 
laid to rest there with due naval honours and 
solemn religious rites. These men. although 
in a foreign country, rcjxjse in one of the 
most beautiful cemeteries in existence any- 
where. Stately palms and other magnihcent 
trees branch out with tropical luxuriance, and 
till the s])aces not occupied by handsome 
monuments. The gra\-e of Holzer. the hero, 
stands out distinct and conspicuous. On this 
grave, which 1 ])hotographed. T ])laced the 
Stars and Stri])cs. 

llolzer was h'ather Chidwick"s indefati- 
gable and zealous assistant. In the explosion 
his hands were severely lacerated. When he 
was dying in the hospital. Captain Sigsbee 
said a few cheering words to him and held 
out his hand. 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 



27 



" I can't shake hands with yon. Captain 
Sigsl)ee." he said; "my hand is not in con- 
dition, sir." 

" Ah, my lad." said the captain. '' you 
shipped in the wrong ship when you chose 
the Maine." 

" No, sir! no. sir! it was the right ship. T 
have nothing to regret." 

He (hed soon after. 

At this cemetery a Cuban is employed as 
grave-digger and general attendant. Scarce- 
ly a day passed that this sympathetic patriot 
did not bring flowers of some kind wherewith 
to beautify the graves of our sailors. 

March 4, 1898, was a day set apart by the 
American tourists and newspaper correspond- 
ents then in Havana as a day of decoration, 
to be observed as an anniversary by Ameri- 
cans in the Cuban capital. This, no doubt, 
as things have happened, will always be a 
memorable day. 

Sunday in Havana is devoted to jollity and 
recreation: bullfights are carried on, and the 
theatres are wide open. While on the ferry- 
boat during one of its trips to Regla, the 
scene of the bullfights, the few Americans 



28 CANNON AND CAMKKA. 

scattered anioiii; llic iiiaiu S])aniaril> could 
nut fail to realize the undercurrent of ill feel- 
ing;". I was one of the ])arl_\' on a (to me) 
memorable Sunday bound to the bullfit^ht 
with the intention of making photographs. I 
had applied to the management iur lea\e. 
The manager \-er}' t^ladly granted ])ermission. 
and told me that he wcnild do all he could to 
help me in my pur])ose. 

W hen the bullli^ht bc,L;an. the i^oaded 
bull was turned loose into the rin^', and 1 felt 
somewhat ner\-ous. 1 have photoL;raphed al- 
most e\erything from a doghi^ht to a funeral, 
but ne\er had I been so hii;'hly strung' and 
impatient as 1 was on this occasion. Know- 
in<;" that 1 was anions^' enemies, 1 tried by force 
of will to assure m\self that 1 was safe. 

The i)osition 1 had secured was favour- 
able in all but one ])articular, which was that 
the bull was all the time in the shade, instead 
of in the sun. To oN'ercome this it would be 
necessary for me to get into the ring: but I 
was told by the manager that he was liable 
to a tine if a pri\ate individual entered the 
ring during the light. 1 waited m\- oppor- 
tunit\- b\' the low fence which encircled the 



THE BLOWING UF OF THE MAINE. 29 

ring, and, just as the matador was about to 
give the bull the final sword thrust. I leaped 
the fence, and before any one was aware of 
it had a splendid picture. This caught the 
crowd. Spaniards and Cubans, Americans 
and Englishmen — in fact, the entire audience 
— roared with laughter and gave me a hearty 
cheer. 1 was censured by the management 
and threatened with a heavy fine. Aly re- 
sponse was that the negative was worth it, 
and that if they wanted some good pictures 
I should be pleased to let them have them. 
That settled it. everything was lovely, and 
the game proceeded. In the judgment of 
experts who have taken part in these bull- 
fights, the pictures I secured that Sun- 
day were among the best ever made. Re- 
turning from the bullfight. I had ceased 
to be looked on as an enemy, and was 
quite a hero on the boat all the way to 
Havana. 

That evening I had the ])leasure of meet- 
ing one of Spain's greatest generals. Father 
Chidwick and I were invited through some 
Spanish friends to dine with General Arrolas 
at the house of Sehor Gonzales, the owner 



30 



CAXNOX AND CAMERA. 



of a lar<4'e tobacco warcliousc. llis family 
is among the most intUicntial in Ila\ana so- 
ciety, and it contains a charming young lady 
in the person of Sehorita Gonzales. General 
Arrolas is engaged to this beautiful girl, and 
it was rather amusing to see the old warrior 
enjoying I'atlier Gliidw ick"> ((uainl stories 
and my own costermonger songs through the 
medium of this charming intcr])retcr. It was 
e\-ident from the conxcrsatioii 1 had with the 
general that while he was not greatly em- 
bitteretl against the Americans, yet he con- 
sidered it his dut)- to stand up for the glory 
of Spain. 1 am indebted to Sehores Gon- 
zales and Gadalia for nuich information con- 
cerning Ctiba. 

W hen Senator Proctor arri\'ed in Havana 
to make his historic in\estigation of the con- 
dition of the reconcentrados, it was my ]jri\i- 
lege to accom])any him. 1 >a\\ all the hor- 
rors that existed in the hos])itals and among 
the reconcentrados of which Scn:ilor Proctor 
ga\'e a gra])hic report to Congress. 1 went 
with him to Matanzas, Pinar del Pio, and 
other points in the interior, and witnesse<l the 
destitution of the opjiressed Cubans and some 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 



31 



terrible instances of sickness and starvation 
in the hospitals. 

The regnlar Spanish soldiers stationed in 
Cuba have no sympathy for these poor crea- 
tures. They gratify their unbridled passions 
on the women and treat the men with bar- 
baric cruelty. It was my unpleasant duty 
while N'isiting" these ]ilaces to witness unspeak- 
able scenes of rapine committed by these 
armed licentious ruffians. In one little mud 
hut covered with palms there were living two 
families, each minus the male head of the 
household, who had either been killed in war- 
fare or in some private way in order that the 
female occupants of the wretched tenement 
might be easier \ictims. I saw very young 
girls in a condition indicating the near ap- 
proach of maternity. These poor creatures 
were living in absolute want from day to day. 
while the vile soldiers who had ruined them 
paid no heed to their cries for food. Let me 
draw the curtain on these horrors, which cried 
to Heaven for righteous vengeance and have 
been righteously avenged. 

In visiting the camps, and especially the 
camp at Montserate, I had an opportunity to 



32 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

investig-ate the regular soldier and his con- 
dition. Being an old national guardsman, 
I knew something of military tactics, and was 
competent to form an opinion. In a])])roach- 
ing this camp, where we were entire stran- 
gers, we had no difficulty whatever in enter- 
ing. When 1 wanted to make a picture of 
one of the sentries charging and challenging 
an intruder. I had to take the i)iece from him 
and show him how to do it. Just fancy a 
man wearing the uniform of Uncle Sam al- 
lowing any one to take his rifle from him 
while on his post! 

'Jdiese soldiers are ignorant beyond con- 
ception. They are of frail and puny physique, 
induced by insufficient rations, and the mor- 
tality among them is large. Some of them 
had nearly a year's i)ay due them. Dirt v. un- 
kempt, and ragged, they were a disgrace to a 
so-called civilized nation. They were simplv 
eking out a nn'serable existence. This I found 
to be the rule wherever I went. 

Returning to Havana from Matanzas. a 
distance of about sixty miles, by means of 
the one-horse railroad runin'ng between there 
and Havana, an extra car was put on for the 




A narrow escape. 




The final thrust. 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 



33 



special armed guard accompanying the train. 
This guard is composed of a company of 
Spanish regulars. It is not often that thev 
have a chance to distinguish themselves — 
more's the pity, for there would be fewer of 
them! They are thorough cowards, to say 
the least. On the night when we came in, at 
a point on the road eighteen miles from Ha- 
vana, we were suddenly fired upon by a band 
of insurgents. It was amusing to see these 
Spanish soldiers drop to the bottom of the 
car and never return a shot, although the car 
was protected with sheet-iron casing, sup- 
posed to be bullet proof, and there were loop-' 
holes through which they could fire. The 
passengers in the train were quite excited, 
but it was not until one Englishman, a little 
more inquisitive than the others, exposed 
himself to see what was going on, and found 
himself wounded, that we realized our dan- 
ger. Xo protection at all did we get from 
these brave soldiers of proud Spain, who cow- 
ered and grovelled on the floor of the car. 

At this time the town of Matanzas could 
have been taken by five hundred of our New 

York volunteers without any trouble, while 

5 



34 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

any single regiment, with the helj) of a couple 
of good second-rate cruisers, could just as 
easily ha\e routed lUanco from Havana. I 
make this statement advisedly, and will ahide 
hy it. 

The guard mount and parade m front of 
the Hotel Pasaje every morning were spec- 
tacles worthy of opera bouffe. The raw re- 
cruits recently arrived from Spain were turned 
out in this guard, and I thus had a capital 
opportunity to examine them. They were 
lean, hungry, and footsore, and they marched 
with no military precision. Thev were not 
jnit through any tactics whatever, but sim- 
ply mustered, while the band i)layed martial 
music and Spanish fandangoes, all of the sol- 
diers smoking foid-smelling licorice cigar- 
ettes, whiling awa\- an hour or two. and imas"- 
ining that it was glory. After this they 
marchc(l in front of the palace and went on 
their lour of duly, which consisted in enter- 
ing the many warehouses along the streets 
and loafing on boxes or anything else con- 
venient for the remainder of the twenty-four 
hoiu's. 

1 )uring ni\- sta\- in IIa\ana 1 made m;ui\- 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 35 

photographs under (Hfficult and trying cir- 
cumstances, at one time ashore, surrounded 
l)v a crowd of scoffing Spaniards, at another 
on the water. i)erched in the fighting top of 
the Maine, cheered by the boys of Uncle 
Sam's navy. Making photographs in a trop- 
ical climate is trying indeed. I found the heat 
and other difficulties great bars to successful 
achievement. In the early hours of the morn- 
ing the light is beautiful, all one could wish 
for, but when it comes to dark-room work 
obstacles in ])lenty confront you. A good 
supplv of ice is absolutely necessary, provided 
vou wish to have some film remaining on 
vour plates after development. But. in spite 
of all climatic impediments, the effects which 
can be obtained in the picturesque purlieus 
and unclean streets of Havana are varied and 
interesting. The types of character, from the 
mule driver to the lady in white, become more 
fascinating the longer one remains among 
them. 

It was quite a relief to visit the office of 
the American consul general, there to meet 
his smiling countenance and jovial salutation: 
"How do you do, captain? What can I do 



36 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

for you to-day? " General Fitzhugh Lee was 
always ready with some information that was 
newsy, bright, or ini])ortant. 

The cnstoni-hou^c officials were e\-er on 
the alert for something to turn up. I shall 
long remember my (le])ariurc frcjm Havana. 
During my slay there reports reached us from 
time to time concerning the critical state of 
the relations between the United States and 
Spain. 'Jdie ofhcials were becoming more and 
more alert daily; spies of every description 
loomed ii]) in imexpected (juarters. The mob 
grew still more |)r()(ligal of their insults. 

1 observed one day that I was being 
watched with more than usual care and at- 
tention, and w.'is told that I was sus]iected 
of ha\"ing made ])h()tograplis of the fortifica- 
tions and other ])()ints of stategic importance 
to the L'nited States (lo\erument. When the 
report of the board of in(|uir\- was ready, and 
it was settled beyond a doubt that it was im- 
possible to raise the wreck of the Maine, I 
decided that my missit)n. so far as lla\;uia 
was concerned, was ended. I realized that 
war between the two coiuHries was inevita- 
ble, and so p!-epared toi- an earl_\- departure. 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. 37 

The same box and the same cases in which 
I brought in my photographic material did 
service for the homeward journey. 

When all my baggage was ready to be put 
aboard the steamer, I went to the custom 
house, through which everything coming in 
and going out must pass, and was told that 
I must unpack my cases so that their con- 
tents could be examined. This would have 
been disastrous for me, for had I not taken 
photographs of all the forts and fortifications 
that were in and around Havana and Matan- 
zas? 1 had everything that would be of value 
to an invading force. However, I soon found 
a way out of this difficulty. I knew that the 
custom-house officers at Havana w^ere be- 
hind in their salaries for some months, and 
thought it possible to secure a complaisant 
grandee willing to salve his conscience with 
the ointment used by Shakespeare's apothe- 
cary. Doubtless to his father confessor he 
mumbled something about his poverty and 
not his will consenting, provided always that 
his better nature had not been stifled into in- 
sensibility by custom. After anointing this 
official's palm, my load of goods moved off 



]^S CANXUX AM J CAMERA. 

with magical promptitude. My effects were 
then transported to the Yucatan. 

(Jncc on hoard iliai stout steamer, I 
thonglit myself safe; hut. to my (hsgust, with- 
in half an liour of sailing- lime a custom-house 
officer, accomjjanied h\- a poHceman, hoarded 
the \'essel and demanded that m\- eft'ects — 
l)lates. cameras, and all — l)e taken hack to the 
custom liouse. 1 remonstrated, m-i^ing that 
my hag-gage and effects had already heen ex- 
amined and passed hy one customs officer. 
All ex])ostulation was of no a\ail. The cap- 
lain of the N'ucatan said that 1 should have 
to comply with their orders, so hack I went, 
sad at heart, not knowing what the end might 
he. .\rri\ed at the wharf, we were met hv a 
pompons personage, who demanded m\- rea- 
son for taking m\- elTects on hoard the \'uca- 
lan hefore he had examined them. 1 tokl 
him they had heen ])assed h\' one of his offi- 
cers (I his ohicer was then nowhere to he 
seen), and as I had no lime to lose, the x'e.ssel 
heing on the point of sailing. 1 tried the same 
stratagem on this ofhcial that I had i)ractised 
on the other. This was just what he wanted. 
After his " i)alm had heen greaseil," he be- 




Making photographs from the fighting top of the Maine. 



THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAlxNE. -,q 

came as iirl^ane as only a Spaniard can. Fear- 
ing there might 1)e others of equal rapacity, 
I hurried hack on board ship with my effects 
untouched. \Mien I got them on deck, the 
Yucatan weighed anchor and steamed out of 
the bay. 

In passing the Viscaya and Oquendo. both 
of which were swinging leisurely in the dirty 
waters of Havana harbour, I took from my 
pocket the same little flag that I had waved 
so proudly on the arrival of the Montgomerv. 
and tiaunted it in full sight of the officers and 
men on the quarter-decks of these two mag- 
nificent vessels, and said to myself. " I hope 
some day to see you in as bad a predicament 
as we now see the Maine! " 

^ly hope has been more than realized, 
for not only did I see these two vessels, but 
also the remainder of Cervera's proud fleet 
destroyed off Santiago on July 3d l)y the 
American war ships under command of Ad- 
miral Sampson. 



CIIAPTI'I^ II. 

SOLDI HRS IN CAMP. 

Scenes at lleniji.^tcad — Effects of red tape — Drilling volun- 
teers — Unsanitary conditions in camps N'orih and South 
— Red tape and transportation. 

Mv tri]) from Iia\ana on the N'ucatan 
was without incident. We liad with u> a 
s^reat nian\- ("nhan famihes who were fleeing 
front Havana, anticipating tronbles to come. 
W'lien we arrix'ed at (|narantine. in Xew 
\'ork harbour, we were placed under the re- 
strictions of the ti\e-(hiy rule, and had to 
report to the hoard of health to get otir re- 
lease. iJuring all this time things were 
growing warmer and warmer down Sotitli. 
Keports were freeh' and tre(|uentl\' circu- 
lated that (leneral I.ee had been assassinated, 
and that in disturbances created by the 
mob element anu)ng the Si)anish \olunteers 
American resident > had suffered. 

I ha\e ah'eady de>cribed the unruly ele- 
40 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



41 



ment of the Spanish voktnteers, and shown 
their hostihty to the United States. Had 
they revenged themselves on General Lee, I 
should not have been surprised in the least. 
Those capable of blowing up the Maine 
would think nothing of killing a consul. As 
a matter of fact, the general's life was in con- 
stant peril as long as he remained in Ha- 
vana. His friends were disturbed in their 
minds until he had orders to quit. When 
General Lee and his party left Havana, a 
great many Americans and Cubans took their 
departure with him. Soon after this war 
was declared. 

In the meantime Uncle Sam had been 
making ready to meet the Spaniards. Camps 
were being established all over the country 
— at Hempstead, Long Island, Peekskill, 
Chickamauga, Tampa, Washington, Key 
West, and other places. The call by the 
President for volunteers was answered with 
remarkable alacrity. Our young patriots 
responded nobly. It was their first oppor- 
tunity to show the stuff they were made of, 
and right good stuff it was. 

The first camp I visited was Camp Black, 



42 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

at Hempstead, Loi\g: Island. Here the \()1- 
unteer regiments of New \uvk State were 
being assembled preparatory to being shipped 
to the seat of war. This is where the Sev- 
enty-first, that gallant regiment, was first 
sent. Company 11 was sent down to organ- 
ize the camp and ])nt it into some "nd of 
condition. The\' worked with '.. ame 
might and will which they showffl at San 
|nan, and before they were ther lo" '.ley 
had a white-capped city of large and did 

proportions ready to receive the vo' "ers. 
Their troubles. howe\er. hail not yt. cc^n- 
menccd. 

St)on after their arrivrd the terrible wet 
weather set in. eciual in intensity to the 
L'nban rain\- season. Rainstorms and high 
winds deluged and blew down tents as fast 
as the\- were \n\\ up. Xight after night 
men were comi)clled to sleep on the wet 
ground in pools of water. This was but the 
first instance of criminal inefiiciency so pro- 
lific of mom-nfid results later on in the cam- 
j^aign. Cots were at a premium, and straw 
— even straw so cheap ancl so plentiful 
evervwhere — could not be had. The cause 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



43 



I know not. What I know is that men 
slept or tried to sleep all the time they 
were in that camp with nothing in the way 
of bedding between them and the wet earth 
but their overcoats. Fever of the light 
malarial kind soon made itself manifest. 
Younr- men accustomed to the luxuries or 
comfc lL of life for the first time in their 
existence -^^-ere confronted with actual hard- 
ships, 'the nost harmful of which was sleep- 
ing iini'-nud puddles. They were ready and 
willir to make any sacrifices demanded by 
their country, and I was much impressed by 
their cheerful spirit, which rose exultant over 
all minor depressing circumstances. At this 
early stage of the campaign these generous 
souls were victims of departmental red tape 
and carpet-bagging corruption which were a 
disgrace to the Empire State. Our official 
incompetence has been duly exploited in our 
leading daily newspapers, not being one whit 
exaggerated, and the grim results now rankle 
in our hearts. Is the game worth the candle? 
Will this fearful lesson of inefficiency, un- 
paralleled since the Crimean War, teach the 
nation to do better in future? Will our 



44 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



young men, with the cxi)ericnce of the Cul)an 
campaign so fre>h in their minds, resjjond 
with tlie same cheerfnl ahicrit\- to a new call 
f(M" \(»lunteers as did their hrcthreii to the 
patriotic missi\'e of {'resident Mckinley.'" 
Let us hope the\' will. 

.\mong the regiments at Camp I Hack 
were the Sevent\-tirst, I^'otnneenth, Forty- 
se\enth. Sixt_\-ninth, a ])ro\isional regiment. 
and cavalry troo])s .\ and C". which in all rep- 
resented, r shotdd estimate, a total of fi\-e 
thousand men. all at this time imder the 
connnand of ( ieneral Uoe. It nuist he re- 
memhered that these young and willing citi- 
zens had been taken frt)m comfortable homes 
to face inc\ital)le hardshi])S and perha])S 
death. The paltry sum receixed from the 
Cioxernment for their sei-\ice was certainl)- 
no inducement. In the various callings of 
ci\il life tlie emolnments are far larger, while 
the arm\- ration had no attraction to the man 
accustomed to a scpiare meal once a tlay. 
Men were detailed from the dilTcrent com- 
panies in camp to aid in the preparatit)n of 
the food at the (|nartermaster"s de])artmeiU. 
During their stay in camp the food was oi 



.^. 



\ 




TTS^^iJl.'?^^ 



V I 





QM-j 




"i 




\ 


*«»;v: 


'1 '.\ : 



X 



I 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



45 



a fair fjuality — corned beef and cabbage, 
fresh beef several times a week, with good 
fresh bread and plenty of potatoes — plain 
food. ])nt wholesome, snitable for men in 
robust health. But even thus early in the 
campaign the sick suffered cruel privations, 
while those in good health endured much dis- 
comfort from the lack of necessary clothing. 
In the first place, no man should have been 
called upon to suft'er the hardships of camp 
life during the detestably wet weather which 
prevailed all the time they were there. This 
is especially true with regard to Xew York 
city, which is the proud possessor of so many 
costly armories — more than sufficient to ac- 
commodate all the regiments which were 
actually to serve as New York's quota. In 
these armories the men could have been in 
touch with their homes, and could have been 
better prepared for work in the field than at 
an ol3scure point on the line of the most 
decrepit of modern railroads. Take, for 
instance, the Forty-seventh Regiment of 
Brooklyn. This regiment was hauled off to 
the plains of Hempstead before its rolls were 
complete. There they waited in weeks of 



46 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

wet weather before they had their ranks filled 
out. all the time sutTeriiii;- nnaecustonied 
hardships. 

W h\ eoiild not the authorities have 
withdrawn the^e men from the eamj) in 
Hempstead, and therel)y reetihed the error 
of judgment which sent them there, ])artieu- 
lail\ when the movement would ha\e been 
attended with less cx])cnsc, and drills could 
have been had in the armories which the 
weather ])re\ented at Hempstead? it is sit^- 
nilicant that ret^iments leaxin^- this cam]:) 
were sent away with half the men ha\in<j;- 
no uniforms or suppHes. 

Hempstead Plains was an ideal location 
for a camp, beint^- on sandy soil, which ab- 
sorbs the rain freely. Many of our society 
leaders who went to serve their countrv 
with tlie Kou^h Riders have hunted o\er this 
i^round. and otlierwise used it in excitint;" 
Sj^orts. This piece of comitr\- was now con- 
verted into a white city, and in decent 
weather with projier management it would 
ha\e proxed as ^ood a spot for a camp as the 
world could alToi-d. 

After an-i\al in camp, the raw recruit was 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



47 



put through the A B C of military tactics. 
First of all. he was placed in the awkward 
squad, where a corporal took him in hand and 
showed him the distinction between riofht 
and left and front and rear. There he was 
taught the rudiments of soldier life. After 
undergoing this preliminary licking into 
shape, he was placed in his company and pro- 
vided with a rifle and his uniform, if obtain- 
able. It is difficult, as a rule, for the average 
man to come down to the hard discipline 
of camp life. 

The camp at Hempstead was conducted 
on a war basis. This was capital work for 
the men, as it taught them what they would 
have to encounter in actual warfare. In 
walking down the company streets, you 
met the strong and robust fellow, the idol 
of his company, with stripes on his arm, won 
by hard work. Next to him you fell in 
with one not less enthusiastic, but less vig- 
orous — a slender, pale-faced young man per- 
haps from an office. These types, so differ- 
ent, did equally gallant work for Uncle Sam. 
The lithe and the wiry often came through 
the campaign unscathed, while his " bunkie " 



,j^ CANNON AND CAMERA. 

with ihc robust ph_\si((iic Miccunibcd to dis- 
ease. Tlie lithe and wiry may be classified as 
Woodbury Kane, the gentleman cross-coun- 
trv rider and polo ])la_\-er. Larned and W'renn, 
the tennis exi)erts and polo men. Sergeant 
Goff and Private Cheevers. of the Seventy- 
first, were instances in the contrary direction. 
Amoni;- the res^iments of our Xational 
Guard were some of the finest marksmen that 
ever held a piece. They distinguished them- 
selves as shar])shooters in the lines before 
Santiago. 'Idiev were worthy of the splendid 
records made in their armories and at Creed- 
moor. Among my many friends who suc- 
cumbed to the gross and crinunal incom])e- 
tence which cliaracteri/.ed the conduct of this 
campaign was one especiall\' dear to me. 1 le 
was in tlie .Xational Guard with nic. W e 
were in different regiments, but each thought 
his regiment the best. We met on the rifie 
range at Creedmoor, where we hrst smelt 
I'ncle Sam's i)o\\(lcr and indulged in wliole- 
some rivalry. developing our manhood, thanks 
to the untiring efforts of General W'ingate. 
'Idiis fellow -soldier was known all o\er the 
I'nited States — in fact, all o\cr the world. I Ic 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



49 



excelled in different branches of amateur ath- 
letics, winding up as all-round champion of 
the United States. It was a pleasure to gaze 
upon this man. practically faultless in phy- 
sique. He could have posed as a model for 
statuesque strength. His enthusiasm for 
athletics was second only to his zeal as a citi- 
zen soldier. His ambition led to his speedy 
advancement. He rose from private to cor- 
poral, from corporal to sergeant, and when 
the call came for volunteers to go to the 
front, his regiment not being one of those 
selected by the Governor of New York to 
make up the quota on the first summons to 
arms, he enlisted in the Seventy-first, which 
formed part of the Fifth Army Corps, and 
invaded Cuba. 

His ambition was gratified. Soon after 
joining, he was promoted to sergeant. He 
was a great helper and encourager of the 
men in his company. W hile some of his 
weaker comrades dropped out on the way- 
side on the voyage to Cuba, Sergeant E. 
W. Goff (for I refer to him) held his own 
on the right of the company, and was one 
of the first to gain the heights of San Juan 



50 CANNON ANIJ CAMERA. 

and enter the blockhouse. Later on he suc- 
cumbed to the germs of disease induced from 
sleejjing on the wet ground at Camp Black, 
fostered on the way to Cuba, made more 
deadly l)y the commissariat incapacity at San 
juan. and rendered fatal on the trans])ort 
which conveyed him home. l^ve dollars 
spent on ■"medical comforts" aboard ship 
would ha\e saved this valuable life. 

The general routine at Camj) Black was 
severe and monotonous. The volunteer was 
called soon after i\\t; in the morning, when 
hot coffee was ser\ed. Ceneral assemblv 
was sounded and roll call was had. after which 
])olicing and general cleaning up of the 
cam]) followed. Breakfast succeeded at eight 
o'clock. At Cam]) Pjlack this meal was lux- 
urious when contrasted witli what the boys 
had to tackle a few weeks later. Then came 
guard mount. Battalion drill followed com- 
])any drill. In the afternoon the manual of 
^niall arms and firing was carried on. Kx- 
l)ert marksmen, who had (jualified at the 
ranges in the armories and Creedmoor. were 
detailecl to instruct the raw recruits, .\fter 
hard work all da\'. it was cruel to make these 




Bob VVrenn, tennis champion, one of the Rough Riders. 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



51 



men sleep on the wet ground, without even 
a layer of straw between them and Mother 
Earth. Malaria and rheumatism were the 
inevitable consequences of this gross mis- 
management. 

From my own experience at Camp Black, 
I am able to say conscientiously that the 
discipline was not only stern but severe. 
I have been informed that Spanish officers 
were within our lines at Mobile. Key West, 
and other camps. Had they been sub- 
jected to the same stringent rules that I was, 
they would have learned nothing. No mat- 
ter where I went with my camera, I was 
stopped and hauled up when it really seemed 
as though there was no occasion. The cor- 
poral of the guard was often hailed when it 
was found I had not the necessary permit to 
pass me within and without the picket lines, 
and I was unceremoniously hauled up to 
headquarters. It is only just to say that I 
was always let go after explaining my er- 
rand. 

Scientific sanitarians in general have a 
lot to learn, especially with regard to the 
necessarv sinks and other refuse receptacles, 



-2 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

in respect to tlieir position and proximity to 
the commissary (lei)artment. Trenches are 
duij^ in the ground, three or four feet deep, 
not more than one hundred yards from the 
termination of the company street, where the 
cooking for the men is done. If the wind 
blows from the right direction, the odour 
is ahnost unl)earable. In actual warfare in 
a hostile country these trenches and their 
consequent nuisances are unavoidable. Init in 
permanent camps in our own country a new 
system of sanitation is necessary. The sys- 
tem adopted at the State camp at Peekskill. 
N. Y., might be followed. There the refuse 
of the camp is deposited in iron receptacles, 
and, after proper disinfection, is removed to 
distant points. The men in Camp Black 
were drilled in and round these sinks, inhal- 
ing at all times this foul air. while the water 
they drank and which was used by the 
cooks was in close proximity to the afore- 
said trenches and sinks. 

Through it all these men steadily stuck 
to their guns, and, when ordered to move 
to a more southern point, they responded 
with that life and dash st) characteristic of 




u 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



53 



our volunteer regiments. They were or- 
dered south to Chickamauga, Key West, 
and Tampa, to l)e at hand and in readiness 
when the time came to invade Cuba. The 
concentration of our forces at Chickamau- 
ga was thought to be a grand conception. 
Here, it was argued, our men would be- 
come accustomed to the heat which they 
would later encounter in tropical Cuba. 
Theoretically, it was correct. Practically, it 
failed. 

The departure of the regiments from the 
city of New York was made pathetic by the 
wives, mothers, sisters, and sweethearts of 
the men. The scenes at the railroad station 
at Long Island City were distressing. Here 
is where departmental inefificiency in the 
matter of transportation was first made mani- 
fest. The men then got a first taste of the 
sufferings they had to endure later on. 
When trains bearing troops arrived at the 
Long Island City station, there were no 
boats w^aiting to transport the soldiers to 
Jersey City. The transportation arrange- 
ments were rotten. I can not find words suf- 
ficiently strong to express my contempt for 



54 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



tlie (|uarteniiasler aiul the commissary de- 
])artmcnts of these reg'iments. 

riic trooi)s would arri\e from Camp iUack 
at Long Island City late in the afternoon, 
after trax'elling over the dirtiest, slowest, and 
most inconvenient of all railroads in the coim- 
try. The crudest road through the jungles of 
India is superior. After s])endiug all day on 
this road, without conveniences of any kind, 
the men reached the Long Island Citv sta- 
tion in an exhausted condition. As there 
were no hoats proxided Un continuing the 
journey, the men were hustled into the rail- 
road yard, wagons, cattle cars, and trucks. 
there to await the maturing of the so-called 
plan of some blundering and incompetent 
oHlcial. It was impossible for a la\nian to 
trace to its source this criminal carelessness. 

The men were kept in this railroad vard. 
with nothing to eat except that which was 
brought to them by ])ersonal friends and 
members of their families, or what their con- 
dition elicited from sympathizing and char- 
itable strangers. Sin-ely our (iovermnent. 
with its \-ast resources, might ha\e pro\ided 
for these men. and not ha\e left them to the 




/ 



/*i 



i-ia -';i 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



55 



charity of the passerby. It is said that re- 
pu1)lics are ungrateful; is it not rather the 
smah official in the employ of the govern- 
ment of a republic who brings this discredit 
upon the country? 

Hour after hour these men had to huddle 
in this railroad yard, in the broiling sun, the 
choking atmosphere laden with smoke and 
cinders from the locomotives, and with no 
shelter whatever. Some regiments had to 
wait here ten or twelve hours l^efore trans- 
portation could be had to Jersey City, a dis- 
tance which an able-bodied tramp could have 
covered in two hours. However, this proved 
to be but the beginning of that official in- 
competence which killed more of our men 
than Mauser bullets in the hands of the 
enemy. 

This delay was cHscouraging in the ex- 
treme. As a matter of fact, it demoralized 
our men. There was no possible excuse for 
such official blundering. There was no rush; 
war had not been declared; it mattered little 
whether a day or two passed before these 
troops reached the South. 

The arrival of the New York volunteers 



56 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

at the Sotithern camps, where the regulars 
and \okinteers were interming-led, was the 
cause of a good and liealthy feeling, for were 
they not brothers in arms, to go side bv side 
and shoulder to shoulder to battle? The 
contrast that struck mc \ery forciblx' was 
the difference between the ofTficers of the 
regular army and those of our volunteer 
regiments. Xow, do not misunderstand me; 
I have thorough knowledge of these xohm- 
teer officers of whom I s])eak. 1 scr\ed ten 
years in the Xational (luard of the State of 
New \'ork in one of its crack regiments. I 
know that these officers do not ha\e the time 
or opportunit}- to thoroughly master the 
ways and means of conducting e\'en mimic 
warfare. The West Toinl cadets have ample 
time to study and thoroughly master all the 
details of military life. The\- make of it a 
profession. They are ])aid to be shot. ( )ur 
officers in tlie Xational ( iuard ha\e nothing 
l)tit ])atriolism as an emolument. Thc\- ai'c 
first and last business men. Mad lhc\ the 
military training of West Point, and the later 
study and practice of the regular arm\- of- 
ficers, they would perhaps make good sol- 



SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



57 



diers. My modest recommendation is, that 
our volunteer regiments should be officered 
by the overplus from West Point for whom 
Uncle Sam now finds no occupation. This 
would be a benefit to the nation at large, and 
would prevent the waste of intellectual and 
plnsical manhood that goes through the in- 
evitable sewer pipe of West Point. 

In going through the camp at Chicka- 
mauga. the life of the soldier struck me as 
a happy one. All were comrades. They 
messed together in a jovial manner. The 
coloured soldier, always funny, seemed more 
particularly so amid these surroundings. He 
was simply aching to get at the dons. He 
did not forget that the Spaniards first intro- 
duced slavery on this continent. 

At nio-httime our coloured brethren were 

o 

to be found congregated in bunches in a 
quiet little tent or in some unseen or un- 
looked-for nook making up different songs 
and verses wdiich were not at all compli- 
mentary. The regimental bard was present! 
In all the regiments were many more or less 
musically inclined. Their instruments were 
the banjo, guitar, penny whistle, and mando- 



58 CANNON" AND CAMERA. 

liii. and ihc}' made tlie niLjiits ])lcasant in 
more ways than one l)y singini;' onr familiar 
son^s. riie nne ])()ssil)ly incist sun^' was that 
melo(hons (htly. "'renting- 'ri)-ni<;ht on the 
Old Camp ( iround."" 

This sonj;", started hy the melody of the 
negro singers, was taken n]) on all sides, until 
the glorious strain was sniii;" from the east- 
ern part of the cam]) tn the western end. 
h^.ach extremit\- took np the refrain, and as 
the tenor ])art of the " Tenting to-night " 
died awaw and the bass came in with its mag- 
nificent and melodious recall, it seemed as 
though it were one great angelic chorus mak- 
ing music in the twilight. The tiood of song 
affected me as 1 never had been aft'ected 
before. 

The negro soldier appealed to me in many 
ways. Chief of all is that happy streak in 
his disposition which is contagions. This 
he \ents in large measure by singing airs, 
which gi\e him scope for improvising topical 
songs. One of these, sung to the tune 
of T^own in l)ixie. was a fa\'oni'ite here 
with them, .and they took adxantage of the 
blank lines which the\- had to till out to 



"^ 



X?!P^ ' 




#=^. ■ 




SOLDIERS IN CAMP. 



59 



disclose their sentiments toward the Span- 
iards. 

In the general course of events matters 
came to a crisis. Camps were struck. Every- 
thing was taken along that was necessary, 
and the troops were transported to Key 
West, where steamships were w'aiting for 
them to embark. 

Here is where General ^Mismanagement 
asfain showed his hand. While the head of- 
ficials of the army were taking jaunting trips 
between Washington and Key West in pal- 
ace cars and other up-to-date railway con- 
veniences, and the board of strategy pulled 
an expression of owl-like wisdom over its of- 
ficial face, and the men were being packed 
into these transports as hurriedly as though a 
p-reat battle were imminent within the next 
twenty-four hours, it had not been decided 
where these troops were to be sent. The 
troops were huddled on these iron steam- 
ships, with a tropical sun adding to their dis- 
comfort. Such suffering as this our men had 
not been used to. They were penned up on 
steamships like hogs in a cattle car, drink- 
ing warm water, eating hard-tack and greasy 



6o CANNON AND CAMERA. 

pork while in plain siij;ht of shore and with- 
in easy access of fresh provisions. They 
knew not whither they were to be sent. At 
one time a re])ort wonld be in circnlation 
tliat they were to be shipped to Porto Rico, 
only to be replaced b}- another in an hour 
to the effect that they were to be sent to 
lla\-aiia, when a wild rumour would come 
along that they were bound for Santiago. 

At last, after live days of this penning up, 
they started, convoyed by several war ships 
of the navy, their destination being Santi- 
ago, glad to go anywhere ratlier than endure 
continued uncertainty and heartless deten- 
tion. Despite all this ill treatment at the 
hands of red-tape officialdom, when the news 
finally came that they were to go to San- 
tiago their spirits were not dam])cned nor 
their ardour less high, and 1 can truthfully 
say that the best and boldest men that ever 
took shij) for an enem\'s country were leav- 
ing the United States on these transports. 



CHAPTER III. 

OFF FOR THE SEAT OF WAR. 

My work in packing my photographic and other supplies — 
Lessons learned in Cuba stand me in good stead — Medi- 
cal stores and comforts — My shipmates and my vessel 
— Our stay at Jamaica, where we buy polo ponies, and 
take in necessary stores. 

My next journey was a flying trip East, 
where I immediately started in to prepare 
myself for a hard campaign. Photographic 
supplies of different kinds had to be obtained 
in large quantities, for I was determined to 
make the effort of my life in this expedition. 
I wanted to achieve something which had 
never been done before. 

When I arrived in New York city, I con- 
sulted with the well-known war correspond- 
ent James Creelman, who had distinguished 
himself in the war between China and Japan. 
He told me that my path would be a mighty 
thorny one; that while he had made a great 

effort in that war to obtain good photo- 

6i 



62 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

_qra])hic malcrial. had ciii])li)yc(l the best of 
men. and L;i\en tliem e\ery facihtw they had 
al)S()lutely failed from one cause or another 
to gi\e him practical results. 

Mr. W. \\. Hearst. ]:)roprietor of the Xew 
York journal, had en^ai^ed me for this work, 
and he was determined to spare nothiuii^ to 
ol)tain good i)hotog"raphs, so I determined 
to take along three different sizes of cameras. 
First chosen was m\- good and trusty in- 
strument, my six by ten. This I imagined 
would be the best all-round camera to use 
in tield operations. I'eing a convenient size 
for general work. 1 su])plied myself witli a 
large cpiaiuity of ])lates for use ^vith it. I 
did not know how long the war would last, 
but. so as to be prej^ared for any emergency, 
I ec|uipi)ed myself with four gross of six-bv- 
ten ])lates. T knew that a great deal of work 
would be done with our blockading scpiadron, 
while my ])art of it would be acconi]tlishe(l 
from a boat; therefore my eleven-by-fourteen 
camera seemed to me a good size to take 
along for this work, the six b\- ten being in- 
tended for land operations onlw In close 
work, such as bombardments aloni:- the 



OFF FOR THE SEAT OF WAR. 63 

shore, engagements could be photographed at 
short range with the eleven-by-fourteen in- 
strument, and it would also include three or 
four vessels in a picture at a distance of from 
five hundred to one thousand yards. Shut- 
ters of a very rapid-acting type were, of 
course, necessary: therefore I took along 
the quickest shutters I had for each camera 
in duplicate. I determined also to take along 
my largest camera, which was a twelve by 
twenty. This instrument, with a long-focus 
lens, would give me a fair picture at twice the 
distance capable of being taken with my 
eleven by fourteen. This camera did splen- 
did work for me during the destruction of 
Cervera's fleet. 

Having provided myself with these dif- 
ferent sizes of cameras and a variety of lenses 
of different focal lengths, it now remained to 
select plates with which to make the nega- 
tives and paper on which to print them, to- 
gether with the necessary chemicals for de- 
veloping. 

]\Iy experience in Havana had taught 
me the necessity of a goodly supply of medi- 
cal stores. Foremost among these were aro- 



64 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

niatic spirits of ammonia and (juinine. I 
tliought of the old adage that an ounce of 
prevention is worth a pound of cure, there- 
fore I pro\idcd myself with the following arti- 
cles: Acetate of lead, which in solution is 
good for the bites of mosquitoes and other 
insects; extract of witch hazel and vaseline, 
for use for sunburn; Sun cholera drops, for 
diarrhfca; and rhubarb ])ills. for a mild at- 
tack of bowel com])laint. were among my 
supi^lies. A goodly store of talcum jDOwder, 
in case of chahng in the saddle; court plas- 
ter, with a small case of surgical instruments, 
bottles of nux \-omica and belladonna, for use 
in cases of extreme fevers, completed my 
medical stores. T also provided myself with 
several woollen bandages for the stomach, 
and. thanks to these, not a day of stomach 
trouble did I ex])erience other than those 
incidental to the tribute I always ])av to Xep- 
lune. I also provided myself with \cry light 
woollen undci-clolhing, and good hea\\-. stout 
solid shoes and leggings, to prevent the sharp 
cacti and thorns from piercing mv legs. A 
good wide-brinnned hat and light woollen 
shirts (sufticienl for lrec|ucnt changes) car- 



OFF FOR THE SEAT OF WAR. 65 

ried me through. I also had several rubber 
blankets, which I used to cover my cameras 
and plate cases during sudden thunder- 
storms. These I also used as a medium be- 
tween myself and the ground at night for 
a bed. while a plate case answered as a 
pillow. 

Mr. Hearst had chartered the steamer 
Svlvia for this trip, upon which I had fitted 
a dark room for developing, which, though 
not elaborate, was convenient. The Sylvia 
carried a large supply of ice. As I had been 
down in this tropical climate of Cuba off and 
on for a period of three months, I knew the 
absolute necessity of a large quantity of this 
commodity for photographic purposes. I 
determined to be equipped for all emergen- 
cies, the thick of battle on land and among 
the flying shells on the water. Thus I pre- 
pared myself in every way with duplicates 
of almost everything for practical use. The 
getting together of all these necessary chem- 
icals and photographic materials was no easy 
job. 

On board the Sylvia I had sufficient pho- 
tographic material to start an ordinary 



66 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

photograph supply shop. We left New York 
for the seat of war. excellently equipped to 
reiK)rt all ua\al and niilitar\- hapi)enings. 
Mr. Mearst's intention was to (le])ict and de- 
scribe to his fellow-citizens the events at the 
seat of war with all the vividness and ac- 
curacy possible to camera and pen. 

Our ])arty consisted of Mr. W. R. Hearst, 
Messrs. J. Follansbee, James Creelman, and 
G. Pancoast, myself, and my assistants. 
iVmong the other supplies on the Sylvia was a 
l)rintino- machine and the material necessary 
to print the tirst ])a])er in Cuba after it came 
into the possession of the I'nited States. 
We did not go direct to Santiago, but headed 
for and reached Kingston, Jamaica. Here 
we replenished our stores and provisions, and 
purchased se\-eral polo ponies. 

Saturda}' afternoon in Jamaica is always 
a ])ictures(pie scene. It is a half holiday, the 
morning being devoted to marketing. The 
natix'cs for miles around journex- on foot to 
Kingston with fruits and Ncgetables, carried 
on their heads and on their donkex's. to ex- 
change with the storekeepers for groceries. 
The main road leading into Jvingston from 



OFF FOR THE SEAT OF WAR. ^y 

the Crystal Spring Hotel is generally blocked 
for miles on Saturday afternoons. The crowd 
consists for the most part of native women. 
With their gaily coloured bandanas and 
their clothes of yellow and red, swinging 
along at an easy and graceful gait, they make 
a spectacle pleasing and picturesque. Xow 
and then one saw a market woman struggling 
with that ingrained obstinacy ever present 
in the descendants of Balaam's beast of bur- 
den. A little farther on one was confronted 
with a brace of asses, upon which were lashed 
packs with a woman on top. Some of these 
women travel from ten to fifteen miles to 
King-ston with fruit, their entire stock not 
being worth more than six or eight English 
shillings (from a dollar and a half to two 
dollars). 

The road is wide and dusty, and among 
the people you meet are the native soldiers, 
swaggering along in pairs in the middle of 
the road, attired in Zouave uniform, with 
turbans cocked jauntily on their heads in 
the same way they wore them through the 
Soudan. 

I noted an incident which struck me as 



68 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

cliaractcristic. While \vc were .^'oing along 
this road, about two or three miles from 
Kingston, two planters on horseback came 
riding furiously and recklessly by. They 
were yelling and shouting for every one to 
clear the way. A woman and her daughter 
were much in doubt which way to turn to 
avoid them. They were run down and very 
severely hurt by one of the riders. Imme- 
diately loud cries came from their trav- 
elling companions, and a great conmiotion 
ensued, which resulted in the advance guard 
of this strange procession forming in the 
road so as to bar the progress of the horse- 
men, and a native with great dignitv and 
ceremony arrested and marched the offender 
to the Kingston jail. The woman and her 
daughter were jMcked up; both were bleed- 
ing profusely. 

The women in ijiis returning ])rocession 
marched along, singing and joking, haj)pv 
and smoking, as though life was but a huge 
joke. Four or five miles outside of Kings- 
ton on this road we reached the racecourse. 
Here we bought some polo ponies for use 
during our Cuban campaign. The C'rvstal 



OFF FOR THE SEAT OF WAR. 



69 



Springs Hotel was our next objective point, 
which we found a very pleasant place to 
dine. After dinner we returned on board 
the Sylvia, where we found our live stock 
already delivered. Captain Clark was thus 
ready to heave up anchor and proceed to San- 
tiago de Cuba on June i8th. 



CHAPTER IV. 

LANDING IN THE ENEMy's COUNTRY. 

Our first encounter with the American navy — Welcomed by 
Admiral Sampson and received by General Shafter — Inter- 
view with General Garcia, of the Cuban army — Insurgents 
made glad by presents of rations — Delight of our troops 
at landing— The Red Cross Society begins its work of 
mercy. 

Leaving Kingston on a beautiful Sun- 
day mornino^, we passed picturescjue and 
placid Port Royal and steamed out ui)on the 
bosom of the Caribbean Sea toward Santi- 
a,<;o. The bosom of the Caribbean Sea at 
times may be a fit place to pillow a babe, 
but on this occasion it was no cradle. After 
tumbling- around for ten hours, the good 
ship Syhia arrived ofT the tuouth of Santiago 
harbour, just outside the blockatling scjuad- 
ron. when we were suddenly hailed and 
brought to by the Xew Orleans, from whose 
mast fluttered the signal, " Where are you 

bound for? " and before we could answer 
70 



LANDING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 71 

they hoisted another signal to the breeze, 
" We want to board you, sir." 

As we wished to make ourselves known, 
we had no serious objection to meeting one 
of the squadron guarding the once elusive 
but now bottled Cervera. An officer from 
the Xew Orleans put off in a wdialeboat, 
which came alongside our vessel. The of- 
ficer mounted to the deck, inquired our mis- 
sion, and asked our intentions. We told 
him we were there to picture to the life the 
doings of the American fleet. This officer 
looked hotter than he really was, for. in the 
first place, he was red-headed, and great 
beads of perspiration were rolling down his 
cheeks. He was one of those typical naval 
men with whom one comes in contact very 
often at Hampton Roads. While he ap- 
peared to be a veritable devil, he was really 
a most genial, gentlemanly, and good- 
hearted fellow. He told us all that had oc- 
curred during the preceding week, and gave 
us a great deal of information. He added 
that he was glad to see us, and that no doubt 
we would be welcomed by the rest of the 
scjuadron. We told him that we wanted to 



72 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

rei)()rt to Admiral Sampson, in order that 
we might have our papers coimtersigned. 
He then signalled to the Xew Orleans, wis- 
wagging with his cap for the jnn-pose. and 
told them the result of his hoarding trip. 
An answer to i)roceed was received. Bid- 
ding us good luck, the officer got into his 
own hoat, and. after making a good pic- 
ture of the Xew Orleans, we proceeded to 
Admiral Sampson's flagshij), the Xew York. 
half a mile distant. 

When within hailing distance of the flag- 
ship, we told them we would like to hoard 
her. Receiving permission. Mr. Hearst. Mr. 
Creelman. and myself put off in the Sylvia's 
steam launch. Xow. this steam launch was 
a thing of heauty. hut not a joy forever while 
in use, for upon starting for the Xew York 
she became obstreperous, and would not re- 
spond to the coaxings of the engineer and 
coxswain. By and by we reached the side 
of the Xew York. and. as she was stripped 
for fighting, there was no elaborate "-an"-- 
way ladder down the side by which to reach 
her deck, so we had to scramble up the sea 
ladder. 




Admiral Sampson. 



LANDING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 



73 



Upon reaching the quarter-deck of the 
New York, we were met by the officer of the 
deck, who incjiiired our mission. I told him 
I wished to see the admiral. When my name 
was announced to the admiral, he came for- 
ward and bade me welcome. I had met him 
at Havana, where he was serving as tiie 
president of the naval court of inquiry touch- 
ing the disaster to the Maine, and there he 
had extended to me every courtesy and facil- 
ity possible, and he was glad, he said, to see 
me picture-taking at Santiago. After wel- 
coming Mr. Hearst and Mr. Creelman, and 
having a pleasant chat, he told me he should 
be pleased to extend any courtesies in his 
power. We then returned to our ship, and, 
as we were now recognised by the admiral 
as friends, to say the least, we were given 
the freedom of the fleet. 

We next proceeded to Siboney, where 
the headquarters of the New York Journal 
had been established, and where we stood 
ofif and on during the night. Here we spoke 
the Simpson, that gallantly commanded tug, 
from which we obtained the information that 
General Shafter was on board the Seguranca. 



74 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

The Seg-uranca was Xo. 29 of the transport 
fleet, and it was difficult to find her, as the 
order in tlie 1)locka(hn_<4- fleet was to display 
no lights at night. We wanted to find (Gen- 
eral Shafter so that we might get our papers 
countersigned giving us the right of uninter- 
rupted entry and exit within the picket lines 
of tlie land forces. We had a long search 
for him. and were often held uj) by a glaring 
searchlight on board one of the little con- 
verted gunboats or a saucy little torpedo 
boat, accompanied by the hail, " Who are 
you.-' " to which we gave the response, 
" Steamship Sylvia, of the Xew York Jour- 
nal." This went on for several hours, until 
at last we found the Seguranca in Guanta- 
namo Bay. 

On this boat General Shafter had his 
headquarters before he established them on 
shore. Nearby there hovered several of the 
vessels of Admiral Sampson's fleet. On the 
Seguranca we found General Shafter in a 
mood not truthfully to be described as pleas- 
ant. We learned that this frame of mind was 
induced by news of reverses to some of our 
forces under his connnaiid. Ii occuncd to 



LANDING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 7- 

me that, as our forces were on shore, this 
ship was not the proper place for the gen- 
eral commanding the Fifth Army Corps. In 
my opinion, as I saw the general, stripped to 
his trousers and a light blue shirt, he seemed 
physically unfit for an arduous campaign. I 
knew that the tremendous heat and the fa- 
tigue he would have to endure would be 
very hard for a man built on the lines of 
General Shafter. I found him in the social 
hall as one would find a passenger on any 
steamboat. He might have been on shore to 
examine the coast for a short time, but he 
could not have done anything further, as he 
had not been there long enough. At any 
rate, the engagement had taken place, and, 
so far as I could learn, it reflected no credit 
on the general in command. 

The conclusion I came to at the time of 
our first meeting — and which, on reflection, 
I have no reason to change — was that the im- 
portant command of our invading army in 
a tropical country, every inch of which might 
be contested by active commanders accus- 
tomed to the country and immune from fever, 
should have been intrusted to a more phys- 



'j6 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

ically acli\c and energetic man. General 
Shafter was reticent witli resj)ect to his 
plans. lie received iis courteously, acknowl- 
edi^ed our credentials, and gave us permission 
to enter the lines at any point we saw fit. 
We remained on board the Seguranca for a 
short time, and had a little informal talk 
with him relative to the health and spirits 
of his army. He expressed himself as sat- 
isfied with the men under his command, and 
added tliat lie would make a very short cam- 
paign of it. 

We then returned to our ship and retired 
for the night. Xe.xt morning we were awak- 
ened early, and we got all things in readi- 
ness and went ashore. 

The village of Siboney was made the 
landing place of our troops from the trans- 
ports and the base of supplies of the Fifth 
Army Corps. The beach at Siboney is rather 
a tricky one. so that in landing the troops 
those who handled the surf boats had to be 
very careful, because of the strong undertow. 
A day or two previous to our landing here 
one or two of the American gunboats had 
shelled this place and scattered the Spanish 



LANDING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 77 

forces then in possession. As the retreat of 
the Spaniards was hasty, as well as without 
a vestige of their " manana diplomacy," they 
left for the rude hands and capacious stom- 
achs of the invaders a quantity of rum and 
wines, cigars and edibles. The blockhouse 
just in front of this beach was the first block- 
house over which Old Glory was hoisted. At 
this place the Engineer Corps did great and 
useful work in erecting a pier in short order. 
The troops were brought in on the trans- 
ports very close to the shore, and then the 
men embarked in small boats and landed in 
the surf. It was a splendid and picturesque 
sight to see the many different regiments 
being thus landed. Among those that came 
ashore on this day were the Seventy-first 
New York, the Thirty-second and Thirty- 
third Michigan, volunteers from Massachu- 
setts and Illinois, together with a large com- 
plement of regulars. 

These men found this a haven of rest after 
the terrible experiences they had endured 
on the dirty transports. No sooner had they 
reached the beach than they doffed their uni- 
forms and plunged into the sea. How glori- 
10 



78 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



ous this seemed to the boys! Those Cubans 
who had been left with our troops by Gen- 
eral (Garcia to act as guides and scouts stood 
along the beach and watched with amaze- 
ment their comrades in arms disport them- 
selves in the surf. It was quite a picturesque 
scene at which I pointed the eye of my cam- 
era. Those of our troops which monopo- 
lized the attention of the Cubans were the 
coloured regulars, and we have nothing of 
which we can rightfully be prouder than the 
men of the Tenth and Eleventh Cavalry, who 
soon afterward made themselves famous and 
gloriously gained the heights of El Caney. 
In the surf these men ])layed all kinds of 
])ranks and tricks. They were in the hu- 
mour for doing anything from taking a hop. 
skip, and a jump to hauling on the painters 
of the surf boats as they sought a place of 
landing for the soldiers contained in them. 
They were always ready and wilHng to do 
whate\'er lay in their power. I made a great 
many ])icturcs of the transports landing" at 
this ])ase of supplies for the Eifth Army 
Corps. 

Lea\ing the beach and ascending a rather 



LANDING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 



79 



steep incline, we came to the railroad track 
which skirts this little village. Here hos- 
pital headquarters had been established for 
the typhoid and malarial patients, a class 
which day by day grew in numbers. Trav- 
elling along a short distance to the west- 
ward, we came upon several white tents 
which had been erected as headquarters of 
the different and numerous newspapers which 
were represented at the seat of war. The 
New York Journal had established its quar- 
ters at a cosy little Cul)an dwelHng. 

Near by and to the right stood the house 
of the Red Cross Society, under the man- 
agement and direction of Miss Clara Barton 
and Dr. Lesser. Supplies were brought to 
this house from the steamship State of Texas, 
the Red Cross Society's boat, which was then 
lying in the harbour of Siboney. Each day 
the nurses from the Red Cross steamer were 
landed, and they administered to the welfare 
of the men in this hospital at that time. Pa- 
tients in a more serious condition w^ere taken 
on board the Government hospital ship Oli- 
vette. The insurgent troops were coming 
into Sibonev in large numbers, and poor, 



So CANNON AND CAMERA. 

wretched, emaciated creatures these Cuban 
sohhers were. In some instances the_\- had 
scarcely anytliin^: in the way of attire to 
screen their nu<hty. 'i'heir outfits in most 
cases consisted of a few cooking utensils, a 
ril1e, machete, and an empty stomach. It 
was a sight I shall never forget seeing these 
poor fellows Hocking into Sibonev. They 
were positively without homes, and did not 
know what would occur at the next mo- 
ment. Their object in coming to Siboney 
was to see General Garcia and his staff, who 
arrived the following da_\-, and took up their 
cjuarters in an odd little Cuban shantv 
painted blue and white, with red tiles on the 
roof and tropical plants growing on all sides. 
This house was situated but a short distance 
from the railroad which runs from Baiquiri 
to Santiago. In front of General Garcia's 
head(|uarters a part of our infantry which 
had just landed was ([uartered and encamped 
for the night. 

( )in- first \isit was to General Garcia's 
head(|uarters, where we went to inter\iew the 
genera] on his long service for Cuba, and to 
learn, if possible, his plans for future opera- 



i 



LANDING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 8i 

tions. We found a very pleasant old gentle- 
man, with a frank, open countenance, dis- 
playing the scars he had received in the many 
battles he had waged against his country's 
enemies. When he stood up on his veranda 
and bade us welcome, we saw a man between 
sixty and seventy years of age, with a phys- 
ique and frame which had doubtless once 
been ideal in its massiveness and strength. 
He was clad in a pair of light brown leather 
boots, the inevitable blue-striped trousers, a 
white duck coat, and a large wide-brimmed 
panama hat to complete the outfit. 

General Garcia greeted us in our own 
language, and introduced his son — a noble, 
frank-looking fellow — and the other mem- 
bers of his staff. He asked us to be seated, 
and talked to us of the many hardships and 
trials he had passed through in battling for 
Cuba's freedom, and informed us that he 
came to Siboney, at the request of General 
Shafter, in order to have his troops act in 
concert with the American forces, and to as- 
sist, wherever he could, by moving his men in 
harmony with our own. When he uncovered 
his head and wiped the beads of perspiration 



82 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

frdiii his brow, a large scar was to be seen 
in the centre of his forehead This testi- 
fied to the fact that he had s])ilt his blood 
in the cause of riglit and hunianit\- and the 
liberty of his country and its people. 

After talking for some time, the general 
instructed one of his orderlies to have cof- 
fee served, of which we all partook. Then 
his son brought forward a Cuban flag which 
had been borne through many a hard bat- 
tle, and which had been punctured in many 
places by Spanish bullets. This the general 
presented to Mr. Hearst as a token of hon- 
our, esteem, and gratitude for the generous 
aid which Air. Hearst had ever given to the 
cause of Cuba Libre. While the ceremony 
of presentation was informal, there yet 
seemed beneath it all a feeling of intense 
sincerity. 

In handing over the flag, the old general 
said to Air. Hearst: " Whether this war con- 
tinues for three years, three months, or three 
days longer, 1 am willing to tight until mv 
end shall come. Uefore that time does 
come, 1 trust that the hopes 1 ha\e given 
to my people may be fultilkHl." Then, as 



LANDING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 83 

he looked beyond the veranda toward our 
forces, he added: "With those men I can 
go through anything and everything. Vic- 
tory must come. We are in the right, and it 
must be so." 

The old man then waxed warm, his eyes 
filled with tears, and he uttered the battle 
cry of his forces, " Viva Cuba Libre! " This 
sentiment was echoed by all within hearing 
distance. I asked the old general if he would 
object to my taking a picture of him at this 
time, and he very pleasantly acquiesced. 
The picture shows him with Mr. Creelman 
standing by his side, his son reading a de- 
spatch which had been handed in from Gen- 
eral Shafter with instructions to take his 
forces to the left wing and protect that end 
of the line to the best of his ability. 

The Cuban soldiers were surrounding this 
place in large numbers. They were footsore, 
weary, and hungry, for they had just come 
in from the mountains, where they had been 
fio-hting off and on for three years, through 
all kinds of w^eather and vicissitudes of for- 
tune. Here some of the officers and men met 
their wives for the first time since the begin- 



84 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

niiiy; of tlic Inn^- war. One could see in the 
faces of these Cuban soldiers a gleam of 
light, a look of satisfaction, a ray of hope, 
and a resignation to do and die as they found 
themselves side by side and elbow to elbow 
witli the men of Uncle Sam's army. Some 
of these Cubans who could si)eak a few words 
of luiglish told me they never felt so confi- 
dent of success before in their lives. It was, 
in fact, as though new life had entered into 
them. A great change had come upon them. 
They found themselves buoyed up by the 
sight of our war ships afloat and our army 
on shore, with })lenty of provisions to sus- 
tain the inner man in a manner more sub- 
stantial than had previously been their lot 
at the hands of their patriotic but weak 
countrymen. 

It was anuising to see these soldiers re- 
port to the ([uartcrmaster and connnissarv 
de])artments of the American armv for their 
rations. ^'ou could see one soldier here 
gliding along with a rapid shuffle, a side of 
bacon on his head, followed bv others with 
cases and boxes of biscuits. Canned meats 
and edibles of all descriptions were given to 




Copyri({hl, 1N'.I^, by W. K ller.rsl. 

Cuban scouts fj^oiiit; on outpost duty. 



LANDING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 



85 



these half-starved soldiers. It caused a dif- 
ferent feeling in the stomachs as well as the 
hearts of these men to have a good meal, 
and also prospects of many others to follow. 
Thus their welcome to the Americans was 
sincere and cordial, their greetings most po- 
Hte. 

After the Cuban forces had rested here 
at Siboney for a short while, they started on 
their march to the westward, toward Santi- 
ago. The day that General Garcia departed, 
while we knew his age to be nearing the three 
score and ten allotted to man, he strode 
forth with all the alertness and sprightliness 
with which he commenced his first fight for 
libertv. In passing along the many trails 
which led to the American outposts, it was 
not an infrequent happening to meet the 
Cuban soldiery moving along in groups of 
half a dozen or more, some loaded with food 
for their own maintenance, the others with 
cases of American cartridges for food for 
Spaniards. Their greeting of an American 
was always so cordial as to make him feel 
entirely at home with them. 

It often occurred to me that I might easi- 



85 CANNOX AND CAMERA. 

ly be hckl up and coiiiniitled to — the Lord 
knows where, through my ignorance of the 
distinguishing marks betw^een the Spanish 
and Cuban forces. One day 1 started out for 
the outposts of the Cuban alHes, whither I 
was l)eing escorted by two Cuban soldiers 
who were not out of their teens, but who had 
been through the whole war. I found in the 
course of our conversation that, while they 
hoped and truly l)elieved that our forces 
would be ultimately victorious, they could 
scarcely credit the assertion I made to them 
that in as many weeks as they had spent 
years in this war we would be occupying San- 
tiago. 



I 




■"( \ 



CHAPTER V. 

WITH SHAFTER AND HIS STAFF. 

I follow the general on a reconnoitering expedition in the 
direction of Santiago, and photograph the graves of the 
Rough Riders — From the summit of a lofty tree I get 
my first view of Santiago — A tropical storm and difficult 
roads make travelling arduous — Where the Rough Riders 
were killed. 

The morning after my arrival at Siboney 
I left the steamship Sylvia bright and early 
and landed with my cameras and plates and 
with my trusty man made for the interior. 
We tramped along through the thickets and 
over that never-to-be-forgotten hill which 
runs up so abruptly at the back of Siboney. 
This mountain, I should imagine, is about a 
mile distant from the coast, and it is very pre- 
cipitous. We passed two blockhouses on the 
way up. Near the first was the spot where 
brave Captain Capron was laid to rest. This 
is the route the famous Rough Riders took 

the day they encountered the Spaniards at 

87 



88 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

Las Guasimas. We went alonp^ this trail inr 
several miles l)efore we came to the cami)S 
of the different regiments now moving on 
Santiago. This trail is used most by pedes- 
trians. We understood that the lower trail 
dowyi through the valley was in very bad 
condition, having been much cut up by the 
wagons and mule trains used in getting sup- 
plies of all kinds to the front. 

When we reached Las Guasimas. we 
were shown the graves of those Rough 
Riders who had been killed on that mem- 
orable (lav. and whose bodies were there laid 
at rest. 1 made photographs of these graves, 
also of those of the men of the Tenth and 
Eleventh cavalry regiments who had been 
buried near by. In a lovely s])ot just be- 
yond this, on a field where the Rough Riders 
had been fighting a day or two previous, 
were encam]:)e(l the Ninth and Twenty-fourth 
Regiments of the regular United States in- 
fantry. It was here that the boys of our 
regular arnn- showed theniseUcs to be true 
soldiers. To get a good \iew of this camp, 
it was necessarv for nic to get some sort of 
elevation. 1 mentioned the fact to some of 



WITH SHAFTER AND HIS STAFF. gg 

the boys who were standing around, and 
without a moment's delay a large limb was 
broken off from a tree near 1jy and placed 
on the shoulders of some of the men, and 
they placed me on the top of it. This re- 
minded me of the pyramid building for which 
the British army is justly renowned. Upon 
this living pedestal I made the photographs 
of the camp. I passed along through other 
camps, when I encountered the military road 
along which all our mule and supply trains 
were bound to go. The roads were in a ter- 
rible condition. The mud reached to my 
knees as I laboured along the narrow trails, 
in which there was a strong nauseating odour 
exhaled by the broken-down cacti and other 
pungent-smelling tropical plants. Occasion- 
ally we came to a small stream, which always 
proved a welcome sight, as it afforded an op- 
portunity to get a much needed drink. 

Just before reaching Playa, where later 
on General Shafter established his headquar- 
ters, we came to a point which gave us a 
very good view of the city of Santiago. 
While we were pausing here for a short while, 
who should we see coming in the distance 



QQ CANNON ANI-) CAMERA. 

but General Shafter and his staff. Evidently 
thev were on a reconnoitering expedition. 
Lieutenant Miley was riding in front with 
General Shafter. l"he general was mounted 
on his black steed, and looked very fatigued. 
His tunic was unbuttoned, and he was trav- 
elling at a not very fast gait. Here is where 
operations commenced for me. but. confound 
it all! the locality was not suitable for good 
photographic illustration — at one moment 
surrounded by high trees and dense tropical 
growth, which threw everything m shadow; 
at another winding through a narrow road, 
which did not permit me to get the proper 
light. This continued oft' and on for several 
miles. The sun was pouring down with all 
the intensity usual in tropical climes. 

The general was evidently bent upon 
going out as far as his forces had advanced 
in the direction of Santiago. I followed him 
for several miles, once in a while getting a 
" shot " at him, vet 1 had not obtained the 
picture of him and his staft' which 1 so much 
wanted. 1 was practically wasting plates, 
but, fearing 1 wcnild not get better chances, 
took what 1 could. Soon I saw a stream 



WITH SHAFTER AND HIS STAFF. 



91 



a short distance in front of us and in the Hne 
of progress. I made a wild rush to gain this 
stream before the general and his staff got 
there. I knew the horses would want to wet 
their whistles, if the general and his staff 
did not. I gained this position before the 
general did, and when he arrived there, true 
to my intuition, there was a halt for a drink. 
The general allowed his horse to obtain a 
liberal supply, and took one himself from a 
friendly canteen handed to him by one of his 
staff. I followed him some distance farther, 
until he turned in to what later on became 
his headquarters at Playa. 

It was here that I felt the effects of the 
heat and exertion I had just undergone. My 
men caught up shortly afterward, and we 
looked a sorry lot — wet, muddy, and bedrag- 
gled. We halted here for about an hour, as 
the midday sun does not give a good light 
by which to take photographs. We seized 
the opportunity to partake of a little lunch 
we had brought along, which consisted of 
sandwiches and a half dozen bottles of gin- 
ger ale. The beverage was at about boiling 
point when we opened it, and we were glad 



g2 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

to get rid of the weight of the glass, which 
we had Ijccn l)ur(lciied witli while travelling 
over five or six miles of this almost impassa- 
ble country. 

-Vfter our little lunch, we proceeded on 
toward El Pozo. We were making rapid 
progress when the indications of a thunder- 
storm appeared. Great rumblings of thunder 
and vivid Hashes and streaks of lightning 
soon followed. Just before we arrived at 
the river in front of the old sugar house at 
El Pozo the storm burst in all its rage and 
furv. We halted under a large tree, covered 
our cameras and plates with a rubber blanket, 
and allowed our clothing, as we could not do 
otherwise, to get drenched through. The 
storm did not last very long, and we soon 
proceeded to our objective point. By this 
time the condition of the roads was terrible. 
We tramped along, however, as best we 
could, determined to reach the spot where 
we had been told we could get a fme \iew 
of Santiago. We came to a river already 
much swollen, and its stream rushing down 
in torrents from the hillto]). Through this 
we were obliged to wade up to our armpits, 



WITH SHAFTER AND HIS STAFF. 



93 



holding our cameras and plates above our 
heads. When we reached the old dilapidated 
fort, we fell in with the outpost of the Cubans 
in front of San Juan. Among these we found 
a bright and intelligent young fellow who 
spoke EngHsh fluently. He told us that the 
Spaniards, two or three days previous to my 
arrival, had evacuated this fort very uncere- 
moniously. This was the day after the bat- 
tle with the Rough Riders, in which, being 
routed, they fell back on their main forces, 
about two miles in the rear. 

In this old fort was a bell tower, contain- 
ing a finely carved bell. Something prompt- 
ed me to go up this tower and examine the 
bell. Once there, an impulse seized me to 
ring this bell, which I did. with an alarming 
effect, for out of hiding came every Cuban 
soldier for miles and miles, all wildly gesticu- 
lating. I reahzed almost immediately that 
the ringing of this bell was a preconcerted 
signal for assembling in mass should the ene- 
my be seen to advance. I shall never forget 
the sight as long as I live. Of course, I was 
admonished for what I had done, but I as- 
sured them of my innocence of any evil in- 



94 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



tent. No doii])t the Spanish pickets within 
tlieir lines heard the ringing, and wondered 
what was the cause. The inscription on the 
hell led nie to helieve that it was presented 
by some society in Barcelona, and here it 
was strung up in this old shanty by a rude 
piece of chain! I made my wants known to 
several Cubans who understood English, and 
told them 1 sought a place of vantage from 
which I could see the fortifications and as 
much more of Santiago as was possible. 

They told me that by going a quarter of a 
mile to the north, up a high mountain, I could 
see the city ])lainly, but that the attempt was 
dangerous, as it was bexond the i)icket line 
of the Cubans, and I would be exposed to 
the fire of the S])anish pickets. I told them 
1 did not care nuich about that, and that if 
they were willing to show me the way 1 was 
quite willing to go. Several of the men from 
the Sixteenth United States Infantry had ac- 
coni])ani(.'d me to this old fort, and they cor- 
dially volunteered to help me to carry my 
cameras and i:)latcs up this high mountain. 
Having reached its to]), 1 was rejiaid by get- 
ting a glorious but indistinct \iew of Santi- 



WITH SHAFTER AND HIS STAFF. 



95 



aofo, for after the heavv shower throuoh 
which we had just passed the ground around 
was soaked with water, which the strong 
rays of the sun evaporated in the form of 
heavy mists, and prevented a good outline. 
At the top of this hill was a large tree, which I 
ascended, and, placing myself in one of its 
forked branches in order to get higher than 
the many royal palms wdiich otherwise would 
obstruct the view% I took several pictures. 
It was a strange coincidence that on the ist 
of July, when our batteries took their posi- 
tions to shell the fortifications at Santiago, 
this place was where Grimes's battery sta- 
tioned their guns and shelled the Spanish po- 
sition — right under this tree where I had 
planted my camera and made photographs 
of Santiago three days previous. Whether 
the Spanish forces saw^ us or not I am un- 
able to tell, but. if so, they reserved their 
ammunition for better game, and we returned 
to the old fort and started on our way back 
to Siboney. 

This journey from El Pozo to Siboney, 
be it understood, is between nine and ten 
miles, and here we were starting on it at four 



96 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

o'clock in the aflernoon. As ])re\i()iisly re- 
lated, the roads were in a sufticicnll}- bad 
condition when we started, hut what could 
we reasonably expect in returning after that 
thunderstorm ? It was simply stagnant 
swamp, mud. fetid odours, miasmatic mists, 
and biting insects. Our clothes were wet 
through and we began to get chilled, and, 
having no change of clothing, we had to 
keep on the move. This is where we found 
the camera and plates rather inconvenient 
burdens; but there was no such thing as a 
baggage-checking room near 1)}-. and we had 
to swear and lug them along. The camera 
never before appeared to me to have such 
weight; it seemed to ha\'e changed to lead. 
We tried the Cul)an fashion of bearing bur- 
dens upon our heads. I perched the camera 
on my head and went along with a mind as 
light as the occasion would allow, and the 
occasion wnuld not ])crmit nuich ]e\itv in 
this respect. ^^ly faithful warriors trailed 
behind, bearing the ])late cases, and we fol- 
lowed this so-called military road for these 
nine or ten dreary miles before we reached 
our destination at Sibonev. At times the 



WITH SHAFTER AND HIS STAFF. 97 

streams we crossed would reach our shoul- 
ders; at other times our trousers showed the 
tide-water mark of the mud, which was 
worse than that yellow-dog variety which 
New Jerseyites know so well. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ART UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 

In the dark room on the Sylvia — Quick work in printing — 
Back to .Santiago again — A despatch boat's devices. 

After our arrival at Siboney from El 
Pozo, we signalled to the Sylvia for a boat 
to take us aboard. While waiting on the hot 
sand for the boat to reach the shore, and 
being more or less worried with insects and 
land crabs, we decided to utilize our time be- 
fore the boat reached the wharf in taking a 
sea bath. While we had been in the water 
all day more or less, yet this had the novelty 
of being unmixed with mud, and. as a con- 
sequence, we enjoyed it. After we had been 
in the water about twenty minutes, we saw 
our boat nearing the landing place, so we 
got out and dressed as hurriedly as circum- 
stances would permit and put off to the Syl- 
via. We were helped on deck in a condition 

more or less careworn and dejected. The 
98 



ART UNDER DIFFICULTIES. qq 

steward saw our condition, and gave us such 
cheer as lay in the power of his stores (fluid 
and soHd), for it was not long before we were 
all seated at the cabin table enjoynig and 
doing full justice to a hearty meal. 

It was decided that we should put off for 
Port Antonio that night, so as to mail our 
photographs next day. This meant that we 
had to develop the plates that night. As I 
had exposed about three dozen six-by-ten 
plates, this was by no means a small matter, 
but, after we had taken care of the inner 
man, we proceeded to the dark room. 

Now my dark room was a rather impro- 
vised affair, but at the same time it was quite 
convenient. W'e had taken the spacious 
second-cabin dining room of the Sylvia and 
fixed it up to answer the purpose of a dark 
room. W^e had darkened all the windows 
with red muslin, put up an electric fan, and 
fitted up tables and baths and made other 
arrangements for developing, until we had a 
place which would do credit to many studios 
in New York; but, as we had not given 
thought to the changed conditions brought 
about bv the fickleness of the surface of the 



lOO CANNON AND CAMERA. 

Caribbean Sea. we found the work no easy 
matter, for no sooner had we cleared the lee 
afforded 1)y the land of the island of Cuba 
than we encountered a nast}' choppy sea. 
While the Sylvia was a good steady, stanch, 
reliable kind of an old boat, this was an oc- 
casion when we most needed a steady plat- 
form to work on. but the steamer rolled and 
plunged and tossed in a manner most exas- 
perating. 

I was shut u]3 in this dark room, and the 
plates were rolling around in my developing 
tra_\' until reall}' I could not tell whether I 
had a single one or a double one. but 1 man- 
aged with the means at hand and the help 
of my able assistants to keep these plates 
from sliding over one another and destroy- 
ing the films. But. as we had a large num- 
ber to develop, it took a considerable time. 
However, the time was well occupied during 
the three hours in which I was bus}' in the 
dark room. I really think the novelt}- of this 
exercise buoyed me up more than anything 
else would have done, as I was thinking all 
the time of the difference there was between 
devel()i)ing ])latcs here and in my dark room 



ART UNDER DIFFICULTIES. jqI 

in New York city. However, just as soon 
as the work of development was completed, 
I made my way out as quickly as possible, 
but during my stay in there it was one of the 
most trying- times I had experienced that 
far. I was glad enough to get through with 
the developing and out on deck, where I 
could throw myself on my back in a con- 
venient hammock. This condition of mine 
was not reflected in my hale and hearty as- 
sistant, who had a short clay pipe stuck in his 
mouth, smoking with a coolness that was pro- 
voking. Seasickness has been one of my 
greatest tribulations in the performance of 
marine work, and I have anything but a pleas- 
ant time during the hours spent afloat during 
the yacht races, or when photographing the 
fleet evolutions of the White Squadron. On 
several such occasions I have found myself 
out on a small tug outside Sandy Hook, the 
boat wallowing and pitching, dipping her 
rails under water at each roll, while I have 
been chnging to some rope or stanchion. 
But the moment the cry was raised that the 
yacht which I was out there to photograph 
was in a splendid position and ready to turn 



102 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

the Stake, I felt like a man once more, and, 
camera in hand, waited for the chance of 
taking her when she looked prettiest. 
" Sna})! " went the shutter, ni}' work was ac- 
complished, and somebody else might attend 
to the slide, for I had done my bit. I ha\e 
gone through this operation more than fifty 
times on a tug in one day during the races 
between the \'alkyrie and the IJcfender. so 
therefore it was nothing new to me on this 
occasion to be in the same condition. 

As soon as the photographic wt)rk had 
been accomplished. I betook m^'sclf to a con- 
venient jilace on deck for rest and awaited 
until we could get ashore; then, when I had 
planted ni)- feet on terra finna. e\'ery ill feel- 
ing left me, and I was as bright as when I 
step])e(l on board. 1 think to my seasickness 
is to be credited m)- freedom from illness 
of any kind in Cuba and since my return. 
While in Cuba and with the forces for four 
or five weeks, 1 did not experience one dav 
of fex'cr nor was I otherwise affected except 
with slight (liarrhiea. As I ha\e previously 
stated. 1 had a goodly supi)ly of (|uinine and 
protected myself with a stomach band, and 



ART UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 103 

whenever I could I changed my under- 
clothing. While the rest of our party were 
afflicted, in some cases very severely with 
malarial fever and other ills, I escaped all 
such. 

We arrived at Port Antonio early next 
morning, when my negatives were all dried 
and ready for printing. Printing in this cli- 
mate and on a boat is delightful work. One 
does not have to choose the glaring sun of 
the tropics to print by, as one can take the 
shady side of the deck and print in beauti- 
fully diffused light. This enabled us to get 
off fine, clear prints. The paper and the 
plates which I took along acted very nicely 
with careful manipulation, and I can say that 
I did not have one case of " frilling " either 
with plates or paper in the whole expedition. 
This is remarkable. As we had a large sup- 
ply of ice and other facilities on board, it 
was possible for us to do a large amount of 
work in a small space of time. That day we 
sent by the Boston Fruit Company's steamer 
the first set of prints made on this expedi- 
tion. 

After our stay in Port Antonio, in order 



13 



I04 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



to get off the photographs and telegraphic 
reports, as well as to replenish our store of 
ice, fruit, and fresh meats, we put back again 
to Cuba. On the return trip the Caribbean 
Sea was in a more gentle mood, and permit- 
ted mc to enjoy a mild degree of liberty. On 
this expedition we had made the ship's crew 
more or less a part of our j^arty, for we were 
all working together for one end, and that 
was to do the work we had in hand in the 
shortest possible time and in the most tlKjr- 
ough manner possible under the circum- 
stances. From cabin l)(j\' to captain all were 
working with a will to get the most out of 
the ship when it was needed, and the most 
out of our opportunities of pleasure that 
could be had. Be it remembered that the 
work of a (les])atch boat is not easy in time 
of war, for c\ery minute she is under way 
she is running at her best, so that the de- 
spatches which arc sent home may not be 
behind an\- others in a])pcaring in ])rint in 
the I'nited States. Indeed, Mr. Hearst's 
aim was to lead the other newspapers in this 
respect of furnishing the news, so wIkmi w'e 
received despatches from our correspondents 



ART UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



105 



at the front they had to be taken to the near- 
est point at which we could get the use of a 
cable to the States. To that end we all 
worked, and worked with a will. 

The night passed without any occurrence 
worthy of remark, and the following morning 
we came up with the blockading squadron 
oft }vIorro Castle at Santiago. 



ClIArTER \IL 

BOMBARDMENT OF MORRO CASTLE. 

The Sylvia in the thick of the fight — A visit to a wounded 
war correspondent on the Olivette. 

\\'hen we arrived near the blockading 

scjnadron, a ha])py thought struck one of the 

newspaper men on board who wanted to get 

near to the Texas. A few days previous a 

rival newspaper despatch boat, which had 

been the recipient of certain courtesies with 

which we had not been favoured, had l)cen 

carrving minor telegrams from one point or 

another to the flagship, and she was in the 

habit of sailing in among the fleet with an 

air of importance, and displaying the signal, 

" We have des])atches for the admiral." 

This, of course, prevented the vessels of the 

fleet from m.aking her come to outside, and 

enalilcd her to get in close proximity to the 

tlagshi]) to delixer or make known tlie com- 

numications contained in the despatches. 
1 06 



BOMBARDMENT OF MORRO CASTLE. 



107 



Before leaving Port Antonio we had 
taken in a large supply of fresh fruit, includ- 
ing a large quantity of bananas, so it oc- 
curred to one of our very alert and original 
newspaper men that we should hoist the sig- 
nal, " We have bananas for the Texas on 
board." This suggestion we acted upon, and 
our vessel was permitted to glide in w'ithout 
interference among the vessels of the squad- 
ron until we reached the Texas, which was in 
an excellent position. Once alongside the 
good ship Texas, Captain Philip hailed us 
with delight, accepted our little gift with 
many thanks, and told us that a bombard- 
ment was to take place very shortly. We 
thought ourselves in great luck at receiv- 
ing this news, and we made outside the lines, 
keeping as near to the squadron as we were 
permitted. 

The bombardment commenced about 
eight o'clock in the morning. The shii)s 
assumed a crescent-shaped formation, and 
moved toward the shore at a good rate of 
speed. There was the New York, the Indi- 
ana, the Texas, the Brooklyn, the New Or- 
leans, the Massachusetts, the Iowa, the Ore- 



I08 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

gon. and several of the auxiliary cruisers 
which were close in shore. Sit^nals were set 
on the flagship New York as to the course 
to steer and the work to be done. It was 
learned that on the preceding night the Ye- 
suvius had shelled Morro Castle with two or 
three of her dynamite ])rojectiles and. as we 
understood, had created great havoc, and it 
was determined to give the Morro a few 
more American projectiles. When within a 
range of about two thousand yards, the 
Iowa opened tire, keeping up a good speed, 
followed l)y the other ships in good order. 
The fire was returned from the batteries on 
both sides of the Morro. until everything was 
smc^thered from \icw in an atmosphere of 
sulphur-laden smoke. Shells were flying 
thick and fast, and how in the world those 
gunners could see the marks at which they 
were aiming is positively unknown to me. 

As soon as the firing began, it was taken 
up with great rapidity by the Morro and 
other batteries on both sides of the bay. I 
shall never forget my first impression of one 
of these floating monsters of destruction in 
action. Circling with a speed which was re- 



BOMBARDMENT OF MORRO CASTLE, iqq 

markable considering the choppy sea, their 
firing was wonderful There was a constant 
cloud of earth and stone work flying into the 
air from the fortifications on shore. The fir- 
ing continued until at last the flag of Spain — 
that yellow and red emblem of gore and gold 
— was knocked to smithereens from the ram- 
parts of Morro. A day or so previous to this 
bombardment Admiral Sampson had sent in, 
under the protection of a flag of truce, one 
of the officers from the flagship to ascertain 
the whereabouts of Lieutenant Hobson and 
his brave men, who on June 3d sank the 
Merrimac. Admiral Cervera sent word back 
that they had ])een placed in the interior of 
the town in a hospital which was protected 
from the shells that might be fired at Alorro. 
After having learned this. Admiral Sampson 
decided upon doing a little destructive work 
upon Morro, and he then made his plans of 
attack. At every shot almost some object 
woifld fly into the air, which we through our 
glasses concluded to be either men or guns 
hurled from their positions. 

During the bombardment the Sylvia had 
run along with the American fleet and kept 



no CANNON AND CAMERA. 

edgins;- in a little closer, so that 1 might get 
some good ])icturcs of this bombardment, 
until we were in the line of lire from the guns 
of the lleet. Shells came whistling over us 
in considerable numbers. We were deter- 
mined to get something great on this oppor- 
tune occasion. I was seated in the bow of 
the Sylvia with my eleven-by-fourteen camera 
ready to make any photographs that might 
be desired in case any of our vessels should 
get seriously injuretl. for it was absolutelv 
impossible to get pictures of any consequence 
at this time, for we were not only blocked 
out by the large volumes of smoke issuing 
from the guns of the American ships. Init it 
was impossible to get an image of anv size 
of this bombardment at such long range. 
We were cautioned once or twice to keep 
out of the line of tire. but. as we were deter- 
mined to stay as long as we could, we let 
this advice go by unheeded until ordered 
peremptorily by one of the American cap- 
tains to get out of the wav. 

At one time we were in danger of being 
hit ourselves, for sexeral large shells landed 
quite close to our boat. One shell in particu- 



BOMBARDMENT OF MORRO CASTLE, m 

lar, which seemed to be an eleven-inch shell, 
struck the water not more than one hundred 
yards from our starboard quarter, ricochet- 
ted, and. passing over our ship, landed 
two hundred feet beyond us. It was then 
that we received the peremptory order to 
move away and get out of range at once. 
Mr. Hearst reluctantly ordered the captain 
of the Sylvia to pull out. After this we lay 
around for some time and watched this mag- 
nificent sight, but with no results in the way 
of pictorial illustration of the happenings. 
Had I been on one of the small converted 
gunboats, the Vixen or the Suwanee, which 
were close in shore, I no doubt would have 
obtained some very interesting photographs 
of what happened to the fortifications when 
the Yankee shells landed. 

After this bombardment we returned to 
Siboney. where, after developing the plates 
taken, I took our launch and went to visit 
Mr. Edward Marshall, who had been taken 
on board the Olivette the previous day. Mr. 
Marshall is the brave correspondent of the 
New York Journal who was severely shot in 
the battle which brought fame to the Rough 



112 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

Riders at Las Giiasinias. As he was a j^er- 
soiial fi"icii<l of mine, and as 1 had narrowiv 
missed heini;" his eonii)aniun cjn that oceasion 
when he reeei\ed his wound, i fek a great in- 
terest in his welfare, and went with some fruit 
and iced delicacies, together with a note from 
Mr. Creelman. 

When I reached the side of the Olivette, 
I was invited on board and conducted to the 
cot occupied l)y Mr. Marshall. 1 approached 
with a feeling of tenderness and sympathy, as 
I knew the terrible ordeal through which he 
had passed. As soon as he saw me his face 
lit up with joy, and he bade me welcome. I 
told him 1 had a few small things for him. 
together with the nc:)te. I Ic tliankcd me. and 
begged me to read the note to him, as it 
would distress him too much to move. I 
read the note of ^Ir. Creelman, and its con- 
tents in the light of later hap]»cnings seem 
])rophclic. .\s near as 1 remember the 
words, Mr. Creelman's note coiuainetl the 
follow ing: 

"Ah' I)i:ai^ Marsh Ai.i.: Cheer up, (~>ld 
man! 1 hear you ha\e been trying to stop 



BOMBARDMENT OF MORRO CASTLE. 113 

Spanish bullets, and were successful. I trust 
you have passed the worst, and that you may 
never again experience what you did in the 
battle with the Rough Riders at Las Gua- 
simas. I trust you may have a speedy re- 
covery. Keep up a good heart, and reserve 
the cot next to yours for me, as I may be 
with you l)efore long. I am, etc." 

This remark proved to be prophetic, for 
in the first day of the next battle Mr. Creel- 
man was wounded very severely while enter- 
ing the l3lockhouse at El Caney and hauling 
down the Spanish flag. He was carried to 
the Olivette and placed on the cot next Mr. 
Marshall's. Chums in time of peace, they 
occupied adjoining cots in a time of mutual 
distress. 



CHAPTER \ni. 

AMONG THE CUBAN PICKETS. 

Warfare of Cubans and Spaniards — Our men surprised while 
bathing — A battle in undress — We repulse the attack — 
I )isguises and ambushes. 

After shellini^- the shore batteries and 
the blockliouses at Guantanamo, the navy 
sent a landing party ashore from the ships. 
These men were landed in cjuite an unknown 
region. Just l)chind the lii^ii ridi;"e of moun- 
tains which skirted the shore portions of the 
Spanish forces were encountered. During 
the shelling of (luantanamo the Spaniards fell 
back and concentrated llicir forces at a ])oint 
not far removed from the landing i:»lace. 

The method of warfare with which our 

soldiers were here opposed was ([uitc novel 

and verv destructive. The Sjxanish soldiers 

—and the C'ul)ans. too — practise the same 

means of deceptii^n. They cover themselves 

with large palm leaves or other dense foliage, 
114 




Copynght, 1898, by W. R. Hearst. 

A scout hiding under palm leaves. 



AMONG THE CUBAN PICKETS. 



115 



and in many instances they tie large portions 
of the high grass around tlieir Ijodies so as 
to prevent detection. By this means they 
effectually disguise themselves, and by 
stealthy crouching come into close quarters 
with the enemy before detection. While the 
l^alm trees offer no protection, they take all 
they can from other trees, such as the niango 
and others of a low bushy habit. They hide 
themselves in the branches and obtain an 
elevated view, from which it is easy for them 
to get a range of a mile or a mile and a half. 
It must l)e understood — and it is a fact 
not appreciated by most Americans — that 
the trials of our forces in this campaign were 
not few. It was not like the war of 1861, 
where open fields and large plains of prac- 
tically flat country were the battle grounds 
of the contending armies. In Cuba, warfare 
was on different lines, for there the fighting 
was conducted in a rolling country, at times 
swampy, and covered with tropical jungles. 
At one time the men would be fighting on 
the side of a mountain, and the following day 
they would be contending in the valley below, 
so that it can Ije seen that the advantao-e of 



Il6 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

open fi.G^htins;' was not lia<l 1)\- our men in this 
Cnban cani]xaiL;n. 

Man\- of om" soldiers were killed for want 
of knowledg'e of the ordinary jungle tactics 
of the Spaniards. As soon as our troops 
had established themselves and become ac- 
(|uainted with the Cul)an forces, tliey were 
informed as to the mode of warfare to be ex- 
I)ected when they reached the Spaniards. 
One might be taking a comfortable stroll, 
and thinking of anything but the nearness 
of the enemy, when suddenly there would be 
a crack of a ritle, and a " ping " in the air 
made one aware that somebody was trying 
to touch him. This often occurred, and in 
some instances he would hnd himself con- 
fronted by a l(Mig range of skirmishers. The 
advantage the enemy had with their smoke- 
less powder and their training in this guerilla- 
like warfare placed odds on their side. One 
coidd not possibly get the vaunted soldiery 
of S])ain to come out into the o])en. They 
concealed them.selves behind large rocks and 
the roots of trees, and in other ways sought to 
hide, until it was almost impossil)le to de- 
tect them until one was upon them. 



AMONG THE CUBAN PICKETS. 



117 



It was at Guantanamo, on a Ijeautiful 
afternoon after our men had l^een suddenly 
surprised while taking a pleasant bath in the 
sea, that they were called upon to defend 
their lives against an attacking force of Span- 
iards. They fought without uniforms or any- 
thing to protect them from the rays of the 
sun, simply coming out of the water, grab- 
bing their rities and cartridge belts, and 
going into the fray in undress uniform such 
as had never been worn by civilized troops 
in any other engagement. They repulsed 
the enemy, with heavy loss on both sides. 

After this skirmish was over our men 
were sent out the following day to find and 
bring to camp the bodies of any of our sol- 
diers that were killed, in order that they 
might have the benefit of burial. After con- 
siderable search, they found the bodies of 
the marines who were killed in this action, 
and. despite all reports to the contrary from 
of^cials of the army and navy. I have reason 
to believe that these bodies had been muti- 
lated. 

When the dead had been gathered in and 
prepared for interment, Chaplain Jones was 



Il8 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

called upon to officiate. W'hen the service 
was almost completed, the burial party were 
suddenly fired u])on by the Sjianish pickets. 
The bullets were whistling- loud and tlyiiii; 
thick, and the s(|uad of men detailed to pay 
the last honours to the remains of these he- 
roes were com])elled to turn from this office 
of love to defend themselves from the ene- 
my's attack. ( )ur men at first had to retreat 
toward the shore, in order to gain a pro- 
tected ])Osition. Firing followed from one 
or two of our boats in Guantanamo Bay, 
which shelled the Spaniards out from their 
places of hiding. 

In marching from Guantanamo to Sibo- 
ney. our troops became thoroughly acquaint- 
ed with the character of the country in which 
they had to do their fighting. The Cuban 
pickets and scouts who accompanied our 
forces gave our men much \aluable informa- 
tion. They ex])laine(l to them the unwritten 
tactics of guerilla warfare as carried on by 
the S])aniar(ls and Cubans. It is hard to say 
which is the more exi)ert at this type of fight- 
ing. In travelling through this wild country 
one came upon a thicket or a clumi) of trees, 



AMONG THE CUBAN PICKETS. i ig 

and saw secreted therein, so as to be scarcely 
discernible, two posts driven into the ground 
and covered over by a piece of canvas, or in 
some instances roofed over by branches and 
covered with palm leaves. These served as 
tents, and had the advantage when a move- 
ment to advance or retreat was to be made 
of not being burdensome to transport, as they 
were not removed, being easily obtainable 
at any stage of the journey. 

In some instances one suddenly came to 
a stream of water running through some val- 
ley between high mountains, and in the banks 
on each side of the stream one saw large 
holes or caves which had been dug there. 
These proved to be very cool, and hence de- 
sirable retreats and hiding places for the 
Spanish soldiery. For miles one travelled 
without the sign of a bird, without sight of 
any living creature except the detestable 
land crabs. The soil is very sandy and easy 
to dig, and holes are numerous along the 
roads. In travelling in the dark one often 
stumbled, and startled thereby a number of 
land crabs, which at once ran off through 
the brush, making the same kind of noise as 



I20 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

a guerilla t'i<;iucr would. \uu felt at lirst as 
tli()UL;li one of these was about to confrcjnt 
yoii with a drawn machete or point a rifle at 
you, and were agreeably surprised to find 
that it was only one of those noisome crabs. 

There is a certain t\ pe of bird to be found 
in the coimtry here which makes a cooing 
noise not unlike that of a turtle dove. The 
S])aniards have become so adept in imitating 
the call of these birds that it is impossible 
to note the difference. The blockhouses 
established all through this mountainous 
country are all in sight of each other for miles 
around, and these men have established a 
code of signals based upon the calls of the 
birds to which 1 ha\e referred, and by means 
of these signals they can communicate with- 
out exposure of their persons or detection. 
This method of communication was used by 
the Spanish |)icke1s when the Rough Riders 
were making their approach toward T.as 
Guasimas on Jtme 24th. They had also been 
cpiite busily engaged all oxer that part of 
the coimtrx' from Sibonev to Santiago in 
establishing strong and heaxy barb-wire 
fences. These fences were a i-reat aid to 




Copyright, lti9S, by W. R. Hearst. 

First blockhouse at Siboney. where the American flag 
was hoisted. 



AMONG THE CUBAN PICKETS. 121 

them and an impediment to our troops in 
many instances. 

In travelling along a road or a trail, as 
we might call it, possibly fifteen feet wide, 
the banks of the road would rise some three 
or four feet, when they would be topped off 
with this barb-wire fencing. It practically 
ran all over, in and around this country. 

The blockhouses of which I have spoken 
are great institutions of their kind. I first 
became acquainted with these in my trip 
through the province of Matanzas. They are 
erected in square form of railroad ties or tim- 
bers, leaving a space between the timbers 
for pointing rifles, the space being filled in 
with rocks and other waste material, which 
makes them practically bullet proof. In front 
and around these blockhouses several lines 
of intrenchments and barb-wire fences are 
erected, w^hich make it very hard for troops 
to take them by charge or assault, and the 
only manner by which they can be quickly 
demolished is by heavy field artillery. 

This is the branch of the service which 
played an important part during the cam- 
paign. Wherever a house or other shelter is 



122 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

found sufficient to conceal fifty or one hun- 
dred men. they make it tlicir hcad(|uarters. 
and llic\- ha\e a ])ecnliar way of slinf^ini;" ham- 
mocks which would ha\-e been a salvation for 
some of our troops if they had done likewise. 
The men go on picket duty twice daily. 
There is no ceremony worth considering, and 
it seemed to me it was a matter of choice 
among them as to who should go and who 
should not. Fathers and sons 1 found to- 
gether in the Cuban army. The sons in some 
instances had but reached the mitldle of their 
teens, but they were equally exj^ert in the 
use of the machete and ritle as their male 
parent. 

These peoj^le have become cpiite expert 
in disguising themselves. Take, for instance, 
this case: A couple of men will be out on 
picket duty, and you will come alcMig and 
see in the distance the dusky stump of an 
old rotten tree which has succumbed to the 
storms and winds of this land of hurricanes. 
WluMi \-ou a])])roach close and examine the 
place, it will be found to contain two or three 
of these ])ickets. What little clothing they 
have on is of a tlirt\- slate colour, and it is 



AMONG THE CUBAN PICKETS. 123 

hard to find a Cuban \vho will admit that he 
has ever washed himself. They travel with- 
out shoes of any kind, and they so closely re- 
semble the bark of a royal palm or the stump 
of an old dead tree in colour that it is im- 
possible to recognise a native unless you are 
verv close to him. 






CHAPTER IX. 

THE MULE IX THE CAMPAIGN. 

Pack trains and their drivers — Transporting stores and ammu- 
nition — The mule confirms his reputation for wisdom. 

Among the most interesting^" and pic- 
turesque scenes that met my eyes were the 
mule pack trains oroanized to carry muni- 
tions and ]^rovisions for the Fifth Army 
Corps. 1 scarcely think the mule has heen 
recognised and gi\'cn due credit for the ex- 
cellent service it has rendered in this class 
of work. The mule is a \ery intelligent ani- 
mal when properly handled. Regular nude 
])ackers were engaged to take charge of 
them, and they were sent to Santiago for 
this ])ur])()se. They came from the wild rmd 
woolly West, and were whole-souled, jolly, 
gnd also adept swearers. The feature which 
these men most glory in is their capacity 
for cursing, and it seems as tlu^ugh the mules 

understand c\"ery blessed word they sav. 
124 



THE MULE IN THE CAMPAIGN. 125 

Their sonorous " Whoopla! " and shrill whis- 
tle bring the mule to time in every instance. 
These men are mounted on strong broncho 
ponies, with ropes dangling around them in 
the fashion most affected by the cowboy. A 
large black snake whip, .which they use with 
great dexterity, completes their outfit. They 
go along, w^iooping and yelling, in a man- 
ner that is at once pleasing and picturesque. 
With a train composed of fifty mules 
there will be perhaps six or eight of these 
cowboys as packers. The front or leading 
mule is provided with a bell similar in ap- 
pearance and volume of tone to that hung 
round the neck of the old cow in the meadow. 
The other mules follow in single file behind 
this leader, and you can not break them up. 
It is amusing in travelling with one of these 
nuile trains to watch the course the mules 
pursue. While one mule will elect to travel 
the soft, mushy, watery part of the road, the 
one following will turn directly out of this 
path and look for a dry foothold. It is 
seldom that these mules stumble or fall, 
even though their load of ammunition is 
weighty. They go along at a good pace, 



126 CANNON AND CA.MLRA. 

tra\ellin^- at the rate of five to eight miles 
an hour. 

It is amusing to see them when they 
come to a stream of water. They all make 
a break and get tangled up, and yet as soon 
as the packer gives .his war whoop oft' goes 
the niuk' with the hell, and the others follow 
in Indian iile and soldierly precision. Once 
in a while some foxy old mule sees a bit of 
particularly green and tempting grass just 
out of the patii, and starts out to get a good 
bunch of it. when along comes Bill with his 
snake whij) and a yell of " \Miat you doin' 
thar, mule? '" and oft' goes the mule, for he 
knows that to linger is to tem])t a touching 
up from the ti]) of IJill's snake whi]). 

The weather at the time these mule trains 
were carr\ing anmuuiition to the front was 
\er\' hot. ( )n one occasion a mide train was 
travelling between Siboney and lMa_\a. When 
a mile or two out from Siboney they came 
to a deep gulch, with a very bad break in the 
road. Tliis was the second tri]) of this par- 
ticular nuile train that daw and while cross- 
ing this muddy stream one of the nndes 
slip])ed and couii)letel}' collapsetl under his 



THE MULE IN THE CAMPAIGN. to- 

load. He fell, and refused to budge. Imme- 
diately the packers jumped off their ponies 
and had hold of him by the headline and 
halter tied around his neck, and in less time 
than it takes to talk about it they had the 
pack off the mule and the beast on his feet 
again and repacked. The mule shook him- 
self, and no doubt comforted himself with 
the reflection that he had had a bath at any 
rate, and he wagged his ear knowingly as 
he resumed his march. 

Bill Hill, a renowned packer, who had 
been in the business while the colonel of his 
regiment was in swaddling clothes, is a typ- 
ical old mule packer. He it was who showed 
me the intricacies and the details to be gone 
through in making a perfect pack. It mat- 
ters not whether it is a case of hard-tack, 
half a dozen sides of bacon, several cases of 
ammunition, or a big coil of telegraph wire, 
with a few bags of oats thrown in. when Bill 
gets through with it you will see as neat a 
pack as could be made in a dry-goods store in 
the great city of New York. 

During the first night of the first day's 
battle at San {uan rumour had it that our 



128 CANNON AM) ( AMKRA. 

men were i^cttini;' short of aniimmition. I 
had Icfl San |nan behind nic alxmt t\\(» miles, 
an<l wlien 1 eame to the San jnan Ixiver. near 
the old sni^ar house. 1 heard lond whoopinj^ 
and yellin<;- and tlie cracking- of whips and 
the sound of a bell, and 1 knew it meant a 
mule i)ack train. Little did 1 expect to see 
the sight which 1 saw a little farther on 
when I arrived at this river. Two or three 
packers were riding' aU)nt;" the road in front 
of the train at full L;"allop. warning- everybody 
in sight to clear the road. Pretty soon 
through this stream, which was now coming 
down in a rushing torrent, the nuiles dashed 
without a halt or stop. It seemed that they 
knew that their errand was important. There 
were about one hundred mules in this train, 
all frothing and foaming fn^m the extra ex- 
ertion demanded of them, and they were 
making their way to the front with all pos- 
sible speed, bearing a load of leaden i:»ills to 
1)e administered to the bilious dons in (|uan- 
titv sufticient to check their resistance. They 
went along this rough and difticult road, 
which had become almost impassable from 
the cuts and ruts made bv the artillerv and 



THE MULE IX THE CAMrAIGX. 



129 



commissary wagons and the hospital ambu- 
lances whicli had traversed it so frequently 
during this first day's fighting. 

A short distance along this river there 
were several ambulances coming in with the 
wounded from the front. As the road was 
narrow, and there was scarcely room for one 
wagon to go along, it seemed that when the 
mule train reached them there must certain- 
ly be a catastrophe. But with the sense of 
human beings the mules mounted the steep 
sides of the road and one after another 
passed the ambulances without so much as 
touching them. These animals seemed pos- 
sessed of marvellous judgment and intelli- 
erence. 



16 



CHAPTER X. 

IN CAMP WITH THE SOLDIERS. 

Incidents during the advance on Santiago — I lard-tack sand- 
wiches and cartridge pudding — Foraging for cocoanuts 
and mangoes — Evening amusements — 'I"he difificulties of 
letter writing. 

After the landing of the troops at sever- 
al ]:)oiiits from Santiago to Guantanamo they 
were hurriedly massed in the interior on their 
way to Santiago. The camps of the different 
regiments were established on good high 
ground \\herc\cr it could be found. It was 
also arranged that these camps should be in 
close ])r().\imit_\' to a ri\er or stream which 
would pro\'ide good drinking water. The 
grotmd on which our men camped had been 
lately occu])icd by tlic S])anish forces, so they 
were rallicr particular. The water was first 
tested and found to be free from any harmful 
ingredients introduced by the hands of the 
enemy. Some of the regiments which were 

the first to land had been instructed by the 
130 



IN CAMP WITH THE SOLDIERS. 



131 



Cubans in their method of tenting, and nearly 
all preferred the Cuban plan to the army reg- 
ulation tents. The soldiers found that by 
placing fresh leaves on their tents each night 
they could keep much cooler. 

It was amusing to see the men cooking 
their own pork and soaking their hard-tack 
in coffee. Each mess would have a man to 
do the dift'erent parts of the cooking. While 
one would be preparing a hard-tack sand- 
wich, another would be fetching water, while 
a third would be grinding his coft'ee beans 
between two stones, and so it went on. They 
were just as happy as though they were eat- 
ing in some tine restaurant in Xew York. 
You would hnd the men jollying one another 
along in many ways. One man would ask 
another if he would have a hard-tack sand- 
wich, and the other would answer: " Why, 
certainly. Bill: 1 will let you ha\e some 
cartridge pudding in return." " Chang " 
jiie was quite a joke among the boys. When 
asked for its receipt you were told that it was 
made of cocoa-nut shells stuffed with sol- 
diers' l)uttons. 

Ouite a favourite dish, and one which of 



,32 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

necessilv was eaten at almost every meal, was 
made 1)_\- frying;- bacon in a pan. and then dip- 
ping the hard-tack in the i;ravy. Canned 
meats were to be had very seldom, as tlie 
commissary department had been culpably 
inefficient in forwardini^- the provisions to the 
trooi)s at the front. W'henexer a wai^on of 
pro\isions ajipeared aloni;" the road or in the 
camp each company made for it and claimed 
it as theirs. onl\- to fmd themseUes put off 
until proper recpiisitions had been made out 
for its distribution. The delay in many such 
instances was \ery annoying". 

At nighttime the men in camp would 
while awav the hours in telling stories, sing- 
ing songs, brightening u]) accoutrements, 
and preparing for the unexpected. One 
would stroll from a camp possibly a mile or 
two. and would alwa)'s encounter a part}' re- 
turning with green cocoanuts or a big banda- 
na filled with mangoes. Idie men were forbid- 
den to eat these mangoes, as it was feared they 
might operate harmfully on them, and yet no 
opportunity for getting them was allowed to 
pass bv. The young limes found on fre(|uent 
trees were a ereat solace to the thirstv soldier. 



IN CAMP WITH THE SOLDIERS. 133 

The captains of the different companies 
while in camp took advantage of the leisnre 
time in instructing the men as to what was 
expected of them. They advised them on 
many sul)jects, and the men hstened with 
the eagerness of children; and when all the 
talk was over, the cjuestion would be, " Sav, 
cap, how soon can we expect it? " The cap- 
tain would answer, " Maybe l)y to-morrow." 

The boys were all anxious for the morrow 
to come, as they were eager to meet the 
Spanish whom they had travelled many miles 
to face. The general feeling among the men 
in these several camps was one of anxious 
expectation. You would find them, singly 
and in groups, writing letters which would 
be considered curios in a dime museum from 
the ingenuity displayed in hitting upon some 
material on which to write their thoughts 
and consign the same to the tender mercies 
of the post-office department for transmis- 
sion to their friends at home. In some cases 
where a mother had given her son a box of 
quinine pills to stave off the fever the box 
was emptied and on the surface was scribbled 
a few words of encourag-ement to mother, or 



134 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



wife, or sister, or Ijrother. or other relative. 
or possil)ly plain old Jack, or Bill, or Tom. 
the clumi left behind. Others pressed into 
service brown paper wliich had been used 
as wrapping for a parcel of hard-tack, and as 
envelopes were not to be had, the sheets of 
paper were sewn together with a i)iece of 
thread or fastened together with a safety pin. 
A post office had been established at Guan- 
tanamo. and the many newsi)aper corre- 
spondents travelling to and fro between the 
front and this ])lace were kind enough to take 
these quaint missives along and mail them. 

A newspajier or any news from home was 
as eagerly sought for as intelligence from the 
front was craved for in the States. In many 
instances letters sent from the States were 
held many days before delixery to the men at 
the front. ]\Jany letters were not delivered 
until after the conlhct was o\er which should 
have been received by the soldiers before they 
reached the line of battle. Other letters re- 
ceived yet await delivery, those to whom they 
were addressed having passed to the great 
bevond at El Canev. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 

Advance to the front under difficulties — Graves of the Rough 
Riders — Observations by balloon — Grimes's battery opens 
fire— Response by shrapnel — In the thick of the fight — 
Bravery of the Seventy-first. 

Thursday, June 30th, was a very impor- 
tant, interesting, and busy clay with me. I 
had visited General Shafter's headquarters, 
and permission had been given me to as- 
cend in the balloon the following day, when 
operations were expected to commence, in 
order to take photographic views of the 
trenches, the position of batteries, and the 
various branches of the Spanish army. When 
this news was conveyed to me I was in very 
high spirits. I at once made preparations 
for this work, and proceeded to Siboney to 
get my cameras and plates. I had been out 
in the held all day, and the tramp back to 

Siboney was not very pleasant. I reached 

135 



136 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

the Sylvia rather late at night, and. after 
carini];- for the inner man. I made known to 
our party what was to take place the follow- 
int;- (law and the whole corps of men were in 
high glee to learn that operations in real 
warfare were to heg'm early the following 
morning. 

My good and faithful assistant Jim and 
the rest of the hoys helped to get camera 
and plates in shape, while I examined every 
shutter and lens, trying every plateholder. and 
seeing that everything was in perfect work- 
ing order. The plateholders were filled, 
cases were strapped up. and everything was 
made ready for an early dei^'irture. after 
packing" up a few necessary articles, includ- 
ing an extra suit of underclothing and a hot- 
tie of hue old hrandy, this being taken along 
as medicine. At a critical time it was so 
agreeable and necessary that none but those 
who ])artook of it can fully tell how it was 
api)reciated. Thus e(|ui])i)ed, we left the Sal- 
via in the wee small hours of the morning of 
fulv 1st. .\rri\ed on shore, we made for the 
Journal head(|uarters. llere we found things 
rather still. The house had been temporarily 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



137 



turned into a hospital, and. as a conse- 
quence, a great many of the sick soldiers 
were occupying places in and round the 
house and veranda for the night. 

WHien we reached this little house, we 
first made inquiries and personal investiga- 
tions as to our horses. We found they had 
been fed thoroughly, and only awaited our 
arrival to start on our trip to Playa. We 
thought it advisable to take a couple of 
iiours' rest before starting on our journey, 
which was over a tract of about seven miles. 
We found a vacant spot among the many 
lying on the veranda, and we downed our 
blankets on the boards, placed plate cases 
or cameras under our heads, and dozed off. 

After a tiresome day's work, one might 
think, perhaps, that we readily succumbed 
to sleep; but such a supposition omits con- 
sideration of mosquitoes, ill visions, and land 
crabs. I saw and imagined all kinds of 
things, and, although I might have been 
asleep, I knew everything that was going on 
around me for the two hours during which 
we remained on the hard floor of the veranda 

of this little shanty. 
17 



138 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

Outside and hilclicd near by were two 
or three army mules, who voiced a loud, 
rasping protest at intervals against some 
treatment wliich they were receiving and 
which they did not fancy. Xow, these mules 
are all right when they are hungry and have 
something to eat in front of them, hut when 
thev have nothing to engage their attention 
in that way they engage the attention of all 
in the neighbourhood by means known to 
manv, but possessed in that remarkable 
manner only by the nuile himself. The 
bray of an army nuile is penetrating and in- 
sinuating. It tears its way through atmos- 
phere, wooden ])lank, brick, rock, or any- 
thing that may be placed to check its move- 
ment. In addition to the regulation bray, 
the mule has a mournful whine. This melan- 
cholv sound is what these nudes treated us 
to during the two hours we sought sleej). 

After ])icluring to myself the scenes 
which 1 expected to ])h()tograpli I dozed 
into a brief respite from mortal cares. 1 his 
was of but brief duration, for we were soon 
awakened in a rude manner b\- Mr. Follans- 
bee, who came along and told us that day- 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 130 

light was appearing- off the eastern moun- 
tains just beyond Siboney. Our party were 
all attention in less time than it takes to tell 
about it. for we were all anxious to get un- 
der way and to the front. 

After saddling our horses and making 
our packs on an army mule that was branded 
as the property of U. S. — but do not in- 
quire too closely as to where we got him. 
The mule had strayed and was lost — possi- 
bly stolen — who can tell? Things of this 
kind are not classed as stolen property in 
time of war, or at least they were not looked 
upon as such in Cuba, all taking the cheer- 
ful view that it was borrowed for the time 
Ijeing. Anyhow, after making ready, which 
took but a short time, we started on the val- 
ley road, which is the road between the 
mountains which Cjeneral Young traversed 
with his army on the day that the Rough 
Riders fought their battle. A\'hen we started 
it was still dark, and as we went along this 
nniddy and slimy road it was not a pleasant 
trip. \\> had not gone far before we came 
to the place where the refugees from El 
Caney. Santiago, and other places in the 



I^O CANNON AND CAMERA. 

ncii;iil)()uiiu)()(l had found sliclUT under the 
ini])r()viscd tents and larL;e ti-ee> wliicli f^Tow 
in this low \-alley. 

1-lverv one that passed alcjns;- this trail 
was greeted with more or less couunouplace 
recot^nition l)\' Citltans — men. women, and 
children. As 1 passed by some of them and 
saw strt)nj4-. aj^parently aijle-hodied men, I 
thotiL^ht how strano-c it seemed that these 
hii;-. lustv fellows should he lyin^- around in 
the shade in a manner apparently listless 
;md unconcerned as to what was about to 
occtn-. while our men had travelled from Iwo 
to four thousand miles in some instances to 
flight for the freedom of the country to which 
these loungers belonged. It appeared to me 
that if these people were so anxious to have 
freedom from the thralldom of the Spanish 
yoke, and an o])portunity to repay the Span- 
iards in the same coin they had received from 
them in the way of cruel and unjust treat- 
ment, that here was a s])lendid op])ortunity 
which thev were neL^lectim;-. Instead of tak- 
iui;- u]) arms and li^htin^- the enemies of 
their countrv. they were ])ermittim;- disinter- 
ested friends of humanit\' to take all the suf- 



THE SIEGE OF SANTlACiO. 



141 



fering necessary to free them. And yet 
might not this very torpor of better feelings 
and conscience indicate the degraded state 
of ignorance they had been brought down 
to by tlie imposition of state and Church, 
and lience entitle them all the more to our 
sympathy? Perhaps they thought they had 
done their share for their country's freedom, 
and now that they were within hailing dis- 
tance of provisions to be had for the asking 
they imagined it useless to continue the 
struggle any longer. 

We continued our journey beyond and 
travelled some miles before we reached the 
junction in the road where the Rough Riders 
met with such dire misfortune. This place 
is called Las Guasimas. There are no dwell- 
ings or houses inhabited by any one around. 
The distillery where the S])aniards made 
their last rally can be seen in the distance 
over a small ridge of mountains. Here we 
passed the graves of the gallant troopers 
who died in this grand charge, beyond which 
we came to a trail leading toward Playa. 
The regiments which had been encamped on 
this or-round a dav or two before had taken 



142 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



Up their tents and exacitated. It seenied 
rather lonesome as the sun slow!)' made its 
wav above the horizon, as though something 
big had happened, and given to this place a 
desolate and empt\' air. 'I'here was some- 
thing wanting. 

On the left and right of us the place had 
been occu])ied b\' the Xinth. I'wenty-fourth, 
Sixteenth, and Se\ent_\-lirst Regiments, and 
some troops of cavalry. Xow all were gone. 
Gone where? (jone closer to their enemies; 
working up to a ])osition which brcnight 
them face to face with those men Spain had 
sent there to teach the "' \'ankce pigs '" h<»\v 
not to meddle with lighting men, and wIkj 
had boasted so loudK' of their undx'ing bra\'- 
ery and efticienc)-. If. as historians ha\e re- 
])orte(l, this race of people has done so much 
in the way of reUing upon their honour and 
bra\er\- and the justice of tlu'ir cause, why 
did the\- allow oiu" little l)od_\- of men to en- 
croach u])on the ground which tlic\- could 
not hold long enough to intrench tlK'm>cl\cs 
upon, because the acti\ity of the American 
forces made them retreat hurriedb' tt) theii" 
town and its fortitications? Sureh' thev 






i 
J' 


u 

u 

C 






l; 


» 




C 


\ 


^ 


tr. 




# 






THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 143 

might have made a bolder stand and not 
have allowed ns to approach so near to the 
key of the situation- — Santiago. 

From Siboney to Santiago the distance 
is abont twelve miles. Our troops were now 
eight or nine miles from Siboney, which 
l)rought them within three miles of Santi- 
ago. The first, second, and third brigade 
of this army corps were now being formed 
into a crescent, which crescent was stead- 
ily advancing toward the intrenched posi- 
tion of the l)ravest troops of Spain. We 
had now gone about five or six miles; we 
were between Las Guasimas and Playa. On 
the right of us was a cavalry troop now 
breaking camp. I heard the bugle calling 
the men to "Attention!" The last note of 
the bugle was scarcely sounded before everv 
man was beside his trusted steed, carbine 
slung on the side, a revolver in his belt, all 
ready to mount. Once more the bugle 
sounded, and all threw themselves sprightly 
and alertly into the saddle. The command 
was given, "Forward!" and by fours they 
came down in front of us, blocking our way 
for a time. We halted to see these a'allant 



144 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



fellows pass us and take position (^n the road. 
We followed alons^ in the rear of this troop 
until we reached (Jeneral Shafter's head(|uar- 
ters. Arrived tliere. we unloaded wliat stuff 
we had. includin<,^ the tent and eatables, and 
left our mule tied to a tree where we ex- 
])ccted to pitch our camp that nis^ht. 1 then 
made for headquarters, with Mr. Hearst and 
Mr. Follansbee, to find out where and when 
the balloon was likely to go up. We were 
just as eager to find out as yokels at a coun- 
tr\' fair, where balloon ascensions are adver- 
tised as the main attraction. 1 was told that 
the balloon in charge of the general's start' 
was already a mile or two in advance. Hear- 
ing this, we proceeded toward El Pozo as 
fast as we could, and we had not gone \erv 
far before we saw the balloon in the air in 
front of us. 

Confound it! I thought, here is the 
chance of my life which I lia\c missed, a 
chance where possiI)]\- 1 migin have been of 
\alual)le as.sistance to our army; but I was 
doomed to disappointment. As we followed 
along in the wake of the men who were 
handliuL:' this balloon, I found it was not 




f^opyrigit, 189S, by W. R. Hearst. 

Part of the Seventy-first Regiment, near El Pozo, 
orders to the front. 



awaiting 



i 



i 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



145 



likely I should have a chance to ascend in it. 
It was now at a considerable height, and the 
men were making- their ol)servations in a 
businesslike manner, dlie balloon was han- 
dled by a detachment of eight or ten men, 
who held on to a light ])ole or spar about 
twenty feet long, to which were attached 
the guide ropes of the balloon. Thus the 
men carried it along from one point to an- 
other. Before long the balloon descended 
in order that the men might receive further 
instructions, about which I know nothing. 
1 made all possible haste to ascertain its cor- 
rect location, but failed to do so. Shortly 
after the reascension the Spaniards thought 
our people had been ballooning quite long 
enough, and that it was time to choke ofif 
the play, so their infantry and artillery con- 
centrated their fire on it, and, after the bal- 
loon had been punctured quite frequently, 
it was drawn down and seen no more dur- 
ing the attack on Santiago. 

As we passed along the narrow trail 
which was the main road to the sugar house 
on the way to San Juan, it was filled with 

infantry and artillery troops. The men 

18 



14^ 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



seemed an.\i()U> aii<l ea^er for tlie fray. They 
were all e.xpectancy. all uii their inellle — 
mettle that the men possihl)' never had 
shown iK'fore. I had seen troops many times 
in mimic warfare, but never had I seen them 
so near an actual engagement. As we jiassed 
alon^-, 1 thdui^ht that there were among 
them man\- whose last hour was near; but 
little did the\- heed it. for there is one con- 
dition existing among all men just before 
going into battle. 1 fancy, for I have con- 
versed with them and asked them this very 
(|uestion. and all seemed united oti one 
thing- — that is. that they never think of 
being \ictims themseK'es. biu always that it 
is " the other fellow " that is destined to 
wounds and death. 1 know that is how it was 
with me, for when Mr. Hearst, Mr. Follans- 
bee, and the rest of our party crossed the 
ri\er near the sugar house and made for the 
old fort at l'".l To/.o. none of us thought of 
the danger which was to show itself in a \er\ 
few mintUes. 

It was now aboiU eight o"cli)ck in the 
morning, and a batter)- was stationed on the 
hill directh to oiu" rii-ht. vmder the \er\- tree 



m 





u'ht. l^'^^, bv W. K. Hearst 



In front of El I'u/u. 
Grimes's battery in the distance under the tree. 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



H7 



from which I had made photographs of San- 
tiago a few days before. It was here that I 
knew we would be able to get a good view 
of the movements of the troops which were 
expected to go into battle on our right. The 
Rough Riders were immediately in and 
around this fort at El Pozo. As we passed 
by them we recognised many a well-known 
face. Several of them saluted us as we went 
along toward this battery on the hill. We 
had not proceeded far in this thicket and 
dense woody undergrowth, before our path- 
way and progress were filled with what we 
termed Spanish swords — a species of cactus 
with a long leaf, which grows like the blade of 
a sword. We were approaching the hill very 
closely when, to our surprise, we heard the 
orders coming from the of^cer in charge of 
the battery. They came loud, clear, and dis- 
tinct. The first conimand rang out like a 
clarion: " No. i, load! ])rime! fire!" and the 
first shot of the bombardment of Santiago 
was unloosed from the muzzle of the rifle 
and was speeding on its rotary errand toward 
the mark. 

Following this came the orders for No. 



I4S CANNON AND CAM?:RA. 

2 aiul Xd. 3 muns. and soon Cirimes's l)attcry 
was in fnll action, (inn followed gun in its 
contril)Uti(»n to tlic roai". when snddcnly 
there was a l)ooni in the distance; it sound- 
ed as though it were l)nt an echo of the guns 
from Grimes's battery, so faint was the sound, 
but we soon discovered that we were right 
in the place where the Spanish shells and 
shrapnel were landing. In and around this 
thicket and the fort at Kl i'ozo were a great 
many Cubans. 

A \ell. " Here she comes! "" and there was 
such a screech through the air as 1 had never 
heard before. Tt was new to me, and yet. oh. 
how magnificent I I can not c;dl it terrible 
or dreadful, for it did not so impress me. It 
was the sound of a \ery large and elegant 
skvrocket, which I had so often as a bo\" ad- 
mired and raced to fmd the stick: but oh. 
how terrible to tind the stick which came 
from one of these ])roiectiles! how dreadful 
it soon appeared to me when I saw the havoc 
wrought by the shells! 

.\nothcr boom in the distance, and 
screeching through the air came .anotlier 
shell, fn (|uick succession these shells were 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



149 



now pouring in our line, wlien suddenly we 
were hailed by an officer in charge of the 
skirmish line of the Rough Riders, who said: 
" What in h — 1 are you fellows doing? Don't 
you see you are drawing the tire from those 
batteries? For God's sake, men, get ofT your 
horses! " 

For the first time things began to appear 
interesting. Mr. Hearst turned his horse to 
me, and we came face to face with each 
other, and, with a smile, he said, " Well, I 
guess possibly we are drawing the fire, but 
we are not the only ones around here." 

With that we dismounted, still forcing our 
way toward Grimes's battery, which was 
pouring shells into Santiago. Wdien within 
hailing distance of the battery, a shell sud- 
denly came from the enemy's artillery and 
burst directly in front of one of these guns. 
Another followed, and before it could burst 
in the air as the previous one had done it 
embedded itself in the earth not fifty feet 
beyond where the commanding officer stood. 
Did they run? Did they stop? No, it was 
too late to stop. Onward was the word. 
No. I was reloading. No. 2 was fired, and 



J 50 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

No. 3 was (loin-- the cxeciuion expected of 
it, but which in full we could not see. Here 
we thouo-ht we could -ain the mountain, 
when suddenly we were hailed and given 
these words of admonition: "' Have you fel- 
lows no sense? If you have, for God's sake 
make yourselves scarce!" 

This seemed to us the proper time to 
make ourselves scarce: but let me tell you 
something: In our party of four cr hve. who 
was to be the first (mic to say, " Let us go 
back"? That was the (luestion. That man 
was wanting : that one man could not be 
found, fnr it is true as Cospel that after a 
man had gone through what he had he 
would never allow himself then to retreat or 
in anv wav lead any one to believe that he 
was a coward. The time for any one to set 
the signal of a yellow streak had long passed. 
I am not speaking now <lirectly of our i^arty. 
but 1 am speaking for the soldier and for 
the trooi)er. and for the gunner in general; I 
am speaking for the rank and file, as well as 
the ofticers of 'our army. 1 have heard it 
said that a man will show whether he is a 
man as soon as he gets under tire. This may 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



151 



be correct in many instances, but when you 
take into consideration what our men went 
through long- before they came to the firing 
Hne, if the white feather w^as to be shown, it 
would have been hoisted before. 

It took a brave man to go through the 
inauguration these men went through when 
they were initiated into camp life, and it re- 
quired even more fortitude to withstand the 
hardships encountered on the transports. 
When once upon the field they had passed 
through experiences which were not likelv 
to be outdone by anything there to occur; 
they had experienced about the worst that 
they could have had to endure. It took a 
man of strong nerve, strong constitution, 
and strong fealty to country to uncomplain- 
ingly accept the food and treatment which 
these men had to undergo in order that they 
might place at the altar of Liberty all they 
possessed. 

It was a paradise for these men to be 
permitted to come out from the stench of a 
transport's hold and land in Cuba; to ex- 
change the dampness and filth of unventilated 
cattle boats for the sunshine, however hot 




1-2 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

the rays. Some of thcni ha<l l)ccn in l)attle 
before, as, for instance, the Rough Riders, 
who had gone tln-ough the most desperate 
conthct of this war. When these men saw 
tliis artihery othcer cheering his men on, 
when they saw on the right and left their 
guidons, and in the centre Old (dory grace- 
fully unfolding and waving its stripes in the 
breeze, as though to (lis])lay its insouciance 
and confidence of the (|uality of those bearing 
it as their standard, who could stop them." 
Could they ste]) backward? Xo! Nothing 
but the thought of occui)ying the place now 
held bv the enemy wotdd give them satisfac- 
ion. 

It is not the men actually engaged on the 
fighting line who are most tried and who feel 
the contiict most, for while they are in battle 
they have something to keep the mind from 
self. It is those men who form the second 
line, who bring u]) the rear, who are held 
in reserve, who stand ready to jump in and 
take the jdacc of the bra\e man who has 
died right in front of liim. whose eyes are 
peering through bushes, while he sees tlie 
men droi)])ing in front of him. lie stands 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



153 



there waiting for the order " Forward! " and 
when the l^ngle sounds he jumps forward. 
What are these men doing all the time they 
are standing there waiting for this word? 
Let me tell you what they are doing, what 
I heard with my ears and saw with mv eyes. 
Let me tell you what some of these men did 
and how they did it. 

After crossing the river by the old sugar 
house just in front of El Pozo. there is where 
the men were rendezvoused as reserves. In 
coming down from El Pozo to get out of the 
line of fire as best we could we made our 
way toward San Juan. Shrapnel shells were 
bursting over us in large numbers: men were 
being struck down beside our very selves. 
They were falling like logs. There was none 
of the stage dropping, by first jumping five or 
ten feet into the air — no Rialto business. A 
man was hit. and he simply sagged down in 
a heap, sinking into the low bushes without 
a murmur, without a word. Had you been 
at the side of sonie of the falling men, as I 
was, you would have heard nothing from 
them but, "I have got it!" or, ''It has 
touched me! " 



154 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



These were the men actually in the skir- 
mish line, but as we went fartlier on, and these 
men went l)eyon(l us on their way to the 
enemy's trenches, and the others were stand- 
ing- in single tile as a support to the main 
bodv, the shrai)nel were coming very close, 
for these places had been occupied l)y the 
Spaniards, and they knew the distances and 
could adjust their ranges to perfection. They 
knew the trails which our troops would have 
to use in advancing so as to reach and en- 
gage the Spanish. They shortened their 
rang^es, and man\- a man was killed or wound- 
ed. Man\- is the man who was maimed for 
life while standing waiting to go on the 
fighting line and battle for his country. 
Many is the man that was carried off before 
he liad a chance to tire a shot. 

As 1 came along the line, anxious in- 
quiries were made of me. " liello. mate, what 
are tlicN' doing in front?"" 1 would answer: 
" The\' are holding their own. bo\s; gaining 
steadilv. Xot a foot ha\e they lost since 
they started." 

A feeling of pleasure would thrill the line 
from riii-ht to left when thev heard this 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



155 



news. As I told them of the brave fight their 
comrades were making at the front men 
grasped with firmer hand their rifles, some 
opened the chaml^er and examined the 
mechanism and shells inside, in order to as- 
sure themselves that there should be no miss 
when the time for action came; some would 
draw the cartridge and place the end in their 
mouth to wet it, and, with a tighter grasp 
on his belt as he took in another notch, he 
would say to his partner: " Bill, this is the 
time; the time has come, and won't we show 
them what stuft' we are made of! We will 
show them how to shoot! That clean score 
I made on the range before I left will stand 
us in good stead now, old man." His partner 
would give a knowing wink and shake of the 
head. 

Anxiously did these men stand there all 
along, peacefully biding their time. \Mien 
an advance would be sounded you would 
hear the notes of the bugle ring out distinct- 
ly and the order, " Forward ! prepare for 
action! " The officers along the line would 
give the command to " Unsling rolls and pre- 
pare for action! " 
19 



156 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



A man from each company was detailed 
to look after the rolls and haversacks and 
the e(|ui])ments which were not necessary at 
ihe time. As the men were called into line 
of battle and deploxetl as skirmishers it was 
a s\y;\n to see them. With grim determina- 
tion on their faces, they looked first to the 
ri,L;ht and then to the left; every man seemed 
to be a trained soldier, every man seemed to 
know that the time had come for him to do 
his dntv. be it bnt to die. liefore being- de- 
])loved to the regular distance son wonld 
see them standing in pairs, and at such a 
time 1 heard their conversation. It made me 
feel as though I wanted to do something 
mvself. and yet I could not. For instance: 

A big, strong sergeant was on the right, 
and as he passed along and ordered his men 
to deplov, the Xo. i man of the first four on 
the right of the com])any said: "Sergeant. 
I nia\' not ha\e a chance to speak with you 
again, but should 1 be wounded and not 
killed, see that my body is not taken by those 
Spaniards. If it is the last shot xon have, 
sergeant, and 1 am wounded and ali\'e, do 
not lea\e me mitil \c)u are sure I am dead. 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



157 



Then if they get my l^ody. they can not hurt 
me with me knowing- it." 

This was the pre\aihng feehng among 
the rank and file. They were determined to 
go in and do their best; yet they feared that 
they might l)e taken prisoners by these cruel 
yellow enemies and treated as prisoners al- 
ways have been treated by the Spanish sol- 
diers. Soon after this the engagement was 
opened on both sides; it was a terrible con- 
flict, made more hellish by the roaring of the 
artillery, the popping of the rifles on our 
skirmish lines, and the volleys from the ene- 
my — all of which lent themseh'es to the ter- 
rible discord. 

One could readily distinguish between 
the firing of the two sides. Our men were 
ordered to deploy as skirmishers, and. as the 
officers could not reach the men. the men 
received orders to fire at will. The Span- 
iards in their trenches were firing volleys 
thick and fast. The sounds were many. The 
Alauser bullets whirled along the surface of 
the grass and nipped ofT grass blades and 
cactus stalks. The sound in these cases w'as 
similar to that produced by one holding a 



J -3 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

newspaper and hitlin^L;- the corner of it a sharp 
tap. Then there was the whi/./-inj;- above you 
all the lime, 'inhere was also above you the 
screech of shrapnel from the Spanish artillery. 
This sound is readily comparable to putting 
the power on an electric trolley car. The 
trolley in startini;- has but a small (juantity 
of the power i)Ut on by the motorman, and 
it increases from a low hum to a hissing 
screech. 

The shrieking- of shells and shrapnel over 
my head had a fascination for me akin to the 
eye of the hypnotist on his subject, for I 
could not ])rcvent my head turning upward 
when tlu'\ hissed by. and I could not restrain 
the idea from arising in me that 1 ought to 
l)hotogra])h them as they tlew. As the morn- 
ing wore on and the battle grew fiercer, the 
wounded and the dead were now increasing 
in nunil'cr momentarily. This did not con- 
tribute to the cheerfulness of our men. As 
the\- saw conn-ades being heli)ed to the rear, 
where they were taken care of b\ the Red 
Cross hel])ers, the men would say to them- 
selves: ■■ Well, he has got it. .Ma>be we will 
«'et it ne.xt. but 1 bet >omeb«-)dy gets it ivom 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



159 



me first! " Nothing daunted these men, for 
they jumped right into the place left vacant 
by a dead or wounded comrade. 

In travelling down the narrow trail on 
the right of the Seventy-first Regiment I 
came across two wounded men who were 
lying apparently lifeless. I had some of the 
bandages which are supplied among the arti- 
cles of use in first aid to the wounded, which 
I applied as best I could. After doing this, 
and stopping the rush of 1)lood, one of the 
men asked me to sit him up against an old 
tree stump. He said, " I know you can not 
take care of me, but put me against that 
tree in a position where I can see around me, 
and give me my gun and I will take my 
chances." 

I did as best I could for this poor fellow, 
the bullets meanwhile whistling around in 
close proximity. I did not know whence 
these bullets came, but I thought from their 
direction that they must have come from 
our troops, although the line of battle was 
fully a quarter of a mile in advance. I 
turned to leave this man, thinking that the 
Red Cross aids would soon come along, as 



l6o CANNON AND CAMERA. 

they were doin^' q-ond work among" the 
wounded, when 1 lieard a cry of as^ony. 
and I turned and saw tliis man fall face down 
to the earth, lie had been >hot, as 1 foimd 
later on. clean throui;"h the temple. 

These promiscuous shots, we found later. 
came from the sharpshooters, wlio were thick- 
ly planted in the trees all around the field 
of action. Se\errd instances ha\e been re- 
corded which did not come tmder ni}- per- 
sonal notice, but which 1 know to be facts, 
of many of the doctors and ived Cross nurses 
and aids who were attending to the wounded 
on the battlefield ha\-ing' been shot bv these 
treacheroits and cruel Spanish sharpshooters 
in the trees. Idie Rt^d Cross on a luan's arm 
ga\'e no inununit_\- against bullets when the 
wearer was an American, but rather seemed 
to invite these creatures to show their l)ru- 
talitw h'ollowing .along in the rear of the 
Third r.rigade. 1 made u]) m\- mind that I 
wanted some pictures, and 1 wanted them 
badly; btit no one can conceixe the dilTicul- 
ties of m.aking pictures of men in action, ])ar- 
ticularly where they are continually covered 
with dense clouds of sulphurous smoke. On 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. i6i 

several occasions I had very advantageous 
positions for securing good photos. 

In crossing the river early in the morn- 
ing- I had marched along with the Seventv- 
first Regiment of New York for quite a dis- 
tance; when we branched off for El Pozo I 
left them. Later in the morning, as I have 
said before, I followed in the rear of the Third 
Brigade, and came close up to where the 
Seventy-first New York Volunteers were now 
engaged in deadly combat. The fire w^as 
galling. It was simply awful, but I made my- 
self feel as much at home as I possibly could. 
I was directly on the right wing of this regi- 
ment, and saw them at close range during 
part of the time they were in action. 

A short time before noon I was peering 
through my glasses when I saw one or two 
companies in advance of the remainder of 
the regiment. I could not quite understand 
how this was, when suddenly I saw a halt in 
the advance of these men. They were de- 
ployed as skirmishers, and were sending in 
a galling fire upon the enemy which was very 
effective. 

These two companies had the old type 



l62 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

of powder, and every time they fired a shot 
it made a target at which the enemy aimed. 
I could see the officers every now and then 
runnini;' up and down the Hue of lire, urging 
the men o!i, when suddenly everything 
seemed to 1)ecome (|uiet. Presumably the 
officers had been killed or wounded, for I 
could no longer see any officer in charge 
of these two companies, now numbering be- 
tween one hundred and one hundred and fifty 
men, when suddenly 1 saw this group of 
men rise as if out of the earth and retreat to 
the rear in order to connect themselves with 
the main body of the regiment. As soon 
as these men raised themselves so that thev 
showed slightly above the high grass, the 
enemy's sharpshooters concentrated their 
lire upon them. Finding themselves in an 
ex]:)osed ])osition, they made as hasty and 
orderly a retreat as was i)ossible. Reaching 
the main Ixxly of their regiment, they im- 
mediately rallied and came uj) with their com- 
rades, fighting as they had done before. 

I have an impression from what I saw 
here — my opinion being formed from mv ex- 
perience as a national guardsman — that 



THE SIEGE OF SANTIAGO. 



163 



these men, finding themselves in an exposed 
position and without officers or support, de- 
cided that it was better to fall back where 
they could get officers to take command, and 
thereby obtain the assistance which was ab- 
solutely necessary in this instance. I feel 
positively assured that as these men came 
back they got, in a great measure, mixed 
up with the Sixteenth and other regiments, 
whose officers took charge of them, and went 
back to the firing line with them. Anything 
such as these men l)ecoming stampeded and 
showing the white feather is absolute folly. 
It was simply a case of no leader, and that 
there was no leader on hand was no fault 
of theirs. The men of the Seventy-first for 
their gallantry during the day's fight received 
high praise from the regular officers. That 
those brave fellows should have been accused 
of cowardice by irresponsil)le idlers was a 
cruel calumny, to be refuted when the truth 
became known. 



CHAiTEK Xii. 

THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY. 

Heroism of our colored troops — Bold dash for the fort — A 
correspondent's wound — A non-combatant's prisoners — 
Victory at last — Some unexpected horrors. 

Leaving the First Mivision of the Fifth 
Army Cor])s, we nia<lc our way over to l*",! 
Canev, sounds of a lica\y en^a^'emeiit with 
artillery reaching- onr ears as we ])rogressed 
to the eastward. After an lu)in-"s ritliui;-, we 
came to the main road leadini;- to VA Caney, 
and. as a result of the hea\y hrint;' which 
had been .u'oinj^- on for some time, many were 
killed and woimded, and they were now heinj;- 
hrout^ht to the rear for transfer to the h'irst 
J)i\ision llosi)ital. < )n our route we passed 
a coloured trooper who was heing- assisted 
to the hospital. \\ hen 1 met him I said, " I 
see thev have touched you. old sport." 

" W'hv. vas. sir; yas. sir, they touched me. 

It's a darned shame to think they sin.2:led me 
164 



THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY. 



165 



out, for before I had a chance to raise my 
rifle they touched me up for fair. I wouldn't 
care so much if they'd given me a chance to 
touch some one first. I was just standin' 
thar waitin', when something came along 
and said ' Choo,' and they just ' chooed ' me; 
but I guess this won't last long, and I will 
soon be back among them." 

Such was the feeling of these brave col- 
oured fellows. 

The Tenth and Eleventh United States 
Cavalry consisted of these coloured troops, 
and they were a goodly sight to behold. 
When they came to barb-wire fences, or any 
obstruction of that kind which impeded 
progress, they used to sneak up to them, 
skulking and creeping from corner to corner, 
when suddenly with a wild dash they made 
a gain of twenty or thirty yards, and, while 
it was necessary in some cases for the troops 
to keep silent, it was impossible for these 
men to restrain their animation. With a bold 
rush, swoop, and yell, they leaped into the 
very jaws of death. A coloured corporal told 
me that night— he was in charge of a squad 
of men sent out in a skirmishing party — that 



l66 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

he had just located the cause of the havoc 
wrought among our troops, lie said that he 
had heen Iviiig in a comfortaljle positicju with 
his men and doing as much damage to the 
enemy as possible. These men were to the 
left of the fort and blockhouse, and almost 
directly south of the town. As his squad 
were lying there, sending in their little pills, 
he suddenly found himself and his men the 
centre of fire from a northerly direction. He 
could not imagine where this came from, 
when, upon changing his position behind a 
large boulder and i)lacing his piece on the 
stone, he looked around for a while, and 
thought the firing proceeded from a large 
steeple. He then directed the fire of his 
S(|uad on this church steeple, and with good 
effect, for when this church was afterward 
turned into a Red Cross hospital and head- 
(|uarters for the distribution of food 1 saw 
that some great execution had been done by 
somcbod}'. 

I met this trooper at the same church 
afterward, and as he saw me he looked up at 
the steeple with pride, and said. *' Massa, you 
want to take a picture of that, and 1 hope 



THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY. 



167 



you will tell nie where I can get one, for that 
is where I did the dons." 

And there is no doubt he did, for the 
bodies of several Spaniards were taken from 
the steeple that night. 

When our troops had come within hail- 
ing distance of this fort at El Caney, and it 
was decided that it was time to charge the 
trenches and the hill, Lawton's battery had 
now formed in position to the eastward and 
was shelling the central point, from which 
the Spaniards were doing such deadly work. 

There is no doubt but that history will 
record this as a great battle, but the historian 
must not forget to give the Spaniards due 
credit for their work at this place. Never 
did men fight so fiercely; never did an of- 
ficer urge his men on so eagerly as the of^cer 
in charge of the troops in the first intrench- 
ments at the foot of the hill roimd the block- 
house at El Caney. He was seen to march 
up and down the trenches as erect and dig- 
nified as though he were on dress parade. 
If Spain had any honour and bravery, a large 
amount was concentrated in this single ofificer. 
His conduct was magnificent. He simply 



l68 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

banged away and urged his men on to the last 
des])erate extremity. They knew that their 
end was near; they knew that they could not 
possibly win with such men against them; 
they saw our troops coming nearer and nearer, 
until they were within a very short distance, 
and, as one of the officers captured at this 
fort told me the next day. had our men held 
ofif a little longer, they would certainly have 
surrendered, as their ammunition was becom- 
ing very short. But it seemed as though our 
troops were desperate; they had but one end 
in \iew, and that was to make as cjuick busi- 
ness of this assault as possible. I told him 
that in America the one great principle in the 
composition of the thorough American was 
to get up and hustle, and that is what our 
men were doing here. " Ves, but it was walk- 
ing into the \cr\- jaws of death." he said; 
" for while our men were recei\ing terrible 
wounds, we had other men ready to take their 
l)laces, and we were in a far better position 
in defending than the .\mcricans in attack- 
ing, for the Americans had to expose them- 
selves in a great man}- ways." 

When our men reached the brow of the 



THE CHARGE AT EL CANEV. 



169 



hill over which they had to descend into the 
valley they encountered several barb-wire 
fences, and while they were forcing them- 
selves through these obstructions they were 
exposed to the fire of the Spaniards. But 
nothing daunted when our men saw these 
blue-and-white strij^ed terrors, with their 
large hats in the trenches, they were like 
hungry lions at the sight of prey. Nothing 
short of victory absolute and complete would 
satisfy them. I shall never forget the col- 
oured boys when they made the grand charge 
over the l)arb-wire fences and into the 
trenches filled with Spaniards. They had 
been waiting and watching for a chance, and, 
as though every man had been ordered to do 
this thing at this time, they did it. Lawton's 
battery had just found the range of this fort, 
and was playing havoc with it. Two shots 
had already taken effect when a third came 
and completely demolished one corner, send- 
ing up brickwork and earth high into the air, 
when with a sudden yell these two regiments 
of coloured troops made their bold dash for 
the Spanish trenches, and liefore any one 
knew what had happened they were running 



I70 CANNON AND CAMERA, 

and junipini;- into the very nuizzles of 
the rilles of the enemy. Xo (|uarter was 
shown until the hnL;ie sounded " Cease 
firing! " 

It had to ])e sounded twice, for these men 
were now let loose and des])erate in their 
deadlv work. They were like lri>hmen at 
a cotuitv fair, who, armed with shillalahs, 
crack every head ahove the horizon. But 
these men. on the whole, certainly were mer- 
ciful. As soon as the order was sounded 
ever\- man was ujion his mettle and the 
wounded were cared for and the others dis- 
armed at the earliest possible moment. 

( )n the right, and where the charge was 
made by the Seventh or Seventeenth (I can 
not say positively which; 1 think both), on 
the blockhouse on the heights of the hill was 
a fort, and James Creelman was the first to 
gain this fort. He rushed in, backed up l)y 
several of our troopers, and. grasping the 
halvards of the torn and tattered Spanish 
Hag, he ])nlled it down and told the luen 
in the iovi that if the)- did not stirrender they 
would be shot down. As he was about to 
leave the fort ami call io the troops to come 



THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY. 



171 



forward, a Mauser bullet from some unknown 
source struck this brave newspaper corre- 
spondent in the left arm. The ball shattered 
his shoulder blade and came out of his back 
just under the shoulder. A corporal from 
the Seventh Regiment caught him as he was 
about to fall and carefully laid him down, 
when his friends arrived and carried him to 
a place of safety. All was now excitement in 
and around this fort. Shots quite numerous 
were being fired from the town, until a com- 
pany had to be sent there to capture or kill 
whoever refused to surrender to the Ameri- 
can forces. 

It was now becoming quite late, and 
cloudy in the extreme. In fact, for the past 
two hours the weather had not been good for 
making photographs. But what a dehght- 
ful scene this would have been! Here the 
pen had the advantage of the camera's eye. 
What an inspiring picture to have impressed 
upon a negative — the soldiers making this 
noble charge! Fate, however, was against 
me. 

After getting the details of the battle and 
the story from Mr. Creelman as he lay 



172 



CANNON AND CA.MKKA. 



wounded on a litter. Mr. Hearst inmiediatcly 
made for Siboney with his report, so as to 
get it off to his paj^er at the earUest possible 
moment. I\Ir. Follansbce was anxious to do 
something-, although a non-combatant and 
one who had gone out merely for adventure. 
He eagerly volunteered to go with twenty- 
five men and search the \'illage and take all 
the Spaniards found who had been combat- 
ants. Speaking the Spanish language quite 
lluently. and having boys behind him made 
of the right stuff', they were just adapted for 
this work. They went from house to house, 
taking prisoners here and there. At one 
dwelling they found standing outside the 
door five or six ?\lauser ritles — a sign that 
their owners had surrendered. The ca\alry- 
men who accompanied Mr. Follansbee, with 
their revolvers drawn, were quite energetic 
in searching e\'cry little nook and corner 
where it w;is ])()ssil)le for men to be hidden. 
Several of the men who had been defending 
the trenches and l"'l C'aney against our forces 
that da\- had hurriedly retreated to the 
houses where their families were and changed 
their clothing, so that they looked spick. 



THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY. 173 

span, and innocent when found, but they 
were known by the Cubans to have been 
engaged on the other side a short time be- 
fore. For this reason they became our pris- 
oners. 

In entering one house, which was a httle 
dry-goods store, the woman in charge was so 
frightened in anticipation of some harm com- 
ing to her that she brought out several bot- 
tles of wine to give to our troopers. They 
politely excused themselves and went for- 
ward on their errand. Finding a door that 
was barred and locked very securely, they 
asked the woman for the key. She told them 
she had no key; they told her that unless the 
door was unlocked they would batter it down. 
She then said there was no one there. Mr. 
Follansbee ordered the troopers to batter 
down the door, and, with a cocked revolver 
and a lighted candle in hand, he peered into 
the darkness of the cupboard and discovered 
five Spanish gentlemen, all, of course, full to 
the brim with bravery and honour, hiding 
from the inevitable. They were pulled out 
unceremoniously and placed with the rest of 
the prisoners. 



IJ4 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

The prisoners were being marched down 
a back hme when they were accosted by a 
coloured Cuban, who went in among them 
and grasped their hands quite warmly. Mr. 
Follansbee, thinking this man might be one 
of their number, took him prisoner also, 
for be it known that a great many Cubans 
as well as Spaniards were fighting against our 
forces. Every man or boy that was able to 
carry a machete or handle a rifle was forced 
to declare for one side or the other. Thus we 
were not fighting the Spaniards alone, Ijut 
Cubans wIk^ were Spanish sympathizers. 
When this Cul)an black was taken as a pris- 
oner he resented it very strongly, and, with 
uplifted head and eyes rolled up toward the 
sky, he uttered the most frightful yell I ever 
heard. He called to his God for protection, 
and uttered the most imearthly cries it was 
]:>ossible to imagine. \\ hen ordered to desist 
from this air-tearing iiractice. he declared he 
was a Cuban officer. When asked to show his 
conunission, he plunged his hand down into 
his pocket and dre\v forth a dirty parchment, 
and ])ro\ed that he was an ofiicer belonging 
to the Cuban arm\". 



THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY. 



175 



This was a strange case, to say the least, 
but it was explained afterward that previous 
to our invasion the Spanish and Cuban of- 
ficers had been known to be on quite friendly 
terms, and it was not an infrequent occur- 
rence for these officers to spend the days and 
evenings in social games of one kind or an- 
other. 

The capture of El Caney revealed many 
horrors. It was not only the refugees who 
suffered. My heart bled for our own brave 
men. Clad in uniforms utterly unsuitable 
for tropical climates, the heat of the sun com- 
pelled them to throw aside their kits and 
blankets when the order to engage was 
given. When the cold night dew fell on 
them they had nothing to protect them. 
Chills and fever resulted. The hospital serv- 
ice was pitiably inadequate. The IMauser 
bullet was in a great measure responsible 
for this. Under the old system of fighting 
there were four wounded to one killed. 
Under the sway of the ]\Iauser there were 
nineteen wounded to one dead. The 
wounded require care; the vultures look after 
the killed. This unexpected number of 



176 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



wounded heavily taxed our hospital re- 
sources. 

It is a ])ainful subject to dwell on. That 
our sick and wounded slept in swamps with- 
out shelter is too true. That our camps were 
unsanitary, that disinfectants were sorely 
lacking, is also beyond dispute. The theo- 
retical camps on pai)er. where all precautions 
were to be taken for preserving the health of 
our troops, proved to be myths. The regu- 
lations concerning the boiling of water be- 
fore drinking, the disinfection of the trenches, 
the prevention of men from sleeping on the 
bare ground, were all disregarded, the result 
being the popular indignation now raging as 
I write. If these battle-field and camp hor- 
rors of llie American Army are the outcome 
of the regime of politics, then let politics 
have a needed and thorough shaking u]). 
Let the field artillery commence a bombanl- 
ment of the rascals and blow them out of 
existence, as they deserve. 

The sight of the refugees at El Caney 
was most harrowing. Wounded and starv- 
ing men dragging themselves twelve miles 
from the front to the hospital at Siboney, 




Copyright, 1898, by \\ . R. Hearst. 

Seeking refuge before the bombardment. 



ii 



THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY. 177 

dying l^y the wayside, and becoming- prey 
for the vultures and buzzards, was bad 
enough. But when it is borne in mind that 
women, old and young, wath children, from 
babes in arms to their teens, formed part 
of the same mournful procession, the hor- 
rors accumulate. They had fled from Santi- 
ago in dread of bombardment. The vultures 
had a grim and terrible banquet. 



CITArTr'.U XTIT. 

OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. 

Colonel Roosevelt as a fighter— He inspires his brave men- 
Heroes in the field — Sad scenes in the hospitals — Crimi- 
nal incompetence or what ? — Burial of a soldier without 
benefit of clergy. 

Tx the progress of the battles on July ist 
and _h1 a great many deeds of heroism came 
to mv notice. The men were told l)efore 
going into battle that their one mission and 
aim was to kill, to defeat the enemy, no mat- 
ter wdiat the consequences, as long as it was 
done in an honourable way. This admoni- 
tion was in every sense of the word strictly 
and religiously adhered to by our troops so 
far as I know; but. oh, how freciuently the 
rules and customs of civilized nations for reg- 
ulating warfare were violated by the dons! 
Soon after the engagement of Jtdy ist. and 
e\en before the men were actually called to 
the line of battle, the shrapnel was doing its 



OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. lyg 

deadly work in our lines. Men waiting their 
turn to be ordered to the fighting hne to do 
execution on the enemy were smote down by 
the shrapnel and stray bullets, whose fire 
they could not return. 

It was interesting and sad to see the men 
brought in to the field hospital in the rear 
of the line. The first wounded man who came 
under my notice was a Rough Rider, who 
had been on the second skirmish line, but 
not on the fighting line that day, being held 
in reserve. While acting as supports to the 
left of the First Brigade shrapnel were drop- 
ping around in large numbers from the ene- 
my's artillery, fragments of which when they 
burst maimed and wounded quite a few of the 
Rough Riders. During this period of wait- 
ing Colonel Roosevelt was going up and 
down the line of his regiment, seeing that his 
men were ready and thoroughly equipped for 
immediate action should they be called into 
play. This man is a wonder in many ways. 
He seemed to be absolutely ignorant of the 
nature of fear, and regarded the entire situa- 
tion as but belonging to the conmionplace as 
he went swinging up and down the line, stop- 



l8o CANNON AND CAMERA. 

\nni^ here and tlierc t(i make a remark to one 
of his officers. W lu'U he observed a face 
turned to liim with an in(|tiirinL;- look, he 
would g"i\e a nod ot recognition. 

He said to his men: "' PjOvs. this is the 
dav we repeat what we lia\e done Ijefore. 
^'()U know we are surrounded 1)\' the regu- 
lars. They are round us thick and heavy. 
Don't forget where you heloUL;'. Don't for- 
get what you are fighting for. 1 )on't forget. 
bovs, that \()ur reward is not in the inune- 
diate pre.sent, but think of what will come in 
the future." 

To me Colonel l\oose\elt a])|)eared to be 
in thorotigh tcnich with e\ery man in his com- 
mand, and really he seemed to ha\e a personal 
ac([iiaintance with e\ery man from major to 
cofTee grinder. He had gained the esteem 
and confidence of e\ery man in his regiment. 
He had made himself "" one of the bo\'s." and 
the}' knew it. and 1 was certain that, no mat- 
ter where this man would lead them, they 
would follow, regardless of what the results 
might be. 1 le ini]>arted to his men tiiat won- 
derful determination and courage which he 
himself ])ossesses, and which is contagions 



OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. 



I8l 



under the inspiration of a born leader. The 
possession of this attribute assures victory. 
It is beyond description. Only those who 
saw and felt it could understand his influ- 
ence. It did not need a command through a 
megaphone and a shout and flash of the sword 
to get the men to move, but the simple wave 
of his hand was sufficient for e^•ery man who 
could see him to know that he 'was going 
ahead and that he wanted them to follow, it 
mattered not where. 

As I observed Colonel Roosevelt thus 
going among his men. inspiring them with 
the same burning enthusiasm with which his 
whole being was aglow. I was reminded of a 
memorable event some months before in 
which he was the central figure. The scene 
was Fort Hamilton, New York harbour, and 
the occasion was the calling out of the New 
York naval militia for its annual parade and 
inspection. Colonel Roosevelt was at that 
time Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and 
was making things " hustle " with his usual 
dash. 

The men were formed in hollow square, 
and the colonel delivered one of his charac- 



l82 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

teristic speeches, full of patriotic fire. He 
reminded the younj;- men whom he addressed 
that there was a good deal of dilYercncc be- 
tween '■ funning " and fighting ; that, while 
the Government was pleased to afTord a little 
aquatic amusement and diversion to the mili- 
tia in time of peace, it would demand in re- 
turn nuich self-sacritice. devotion, and endur- 
ance when the dogs of war were let loose. 

All this he jerked out in short ejaculatory 
sentences, emphatic and epigrammatic. He 
impressed me as being dead in earnest. From 
that hour 1 respected Colonel Roosevelt. 

It had been said before the first battle 
in which these Rough Riders took part that 
the men were doubtless si)]endi(l fighters, but 
fighters who were ])roficient chielly in their 
individual capacity. It was predicted that 
collectivelv they would n(U do braver or more 
ef^cient dut\- than other men. for the reason 
that they were not cai)able of org;uii/.ation 
and effective united action — in a word, that 
each man would tight for himself. 'Idiis did 
not pro\ e to be correct, for e\er\- man stood 
])racticall\- shoulder to shoulder with his com- 
rade, and when an order came to adxance or 



OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. 



183 



charge or fire it was done as by one man, and 
nothing could have been more precise and 
miHtarv than all the movements of the Roueh 
Riders in every instance. 

Along the road leading to San Juan early 
in the morning it was my chance to meet one 
of the Rough Riders, who was being helped 
along by two men. As he approached me I 
levelled the camera at him, and made my first 
shot at a wounded American. 

\Mien he came by me he said: " I think 
I am a poor subject. I am certainly an un- 
lucky one." 

I said, " How is that, messmate? " 

" Why," he replied, " I haven't had a 
chance to fire a shot. I was simply lying 
there when I got touched." 

" Are you hurt very much? " 

" Oh, no; this arm, however, refuses to do 
duty, and I must now report to the man of 
pills and lotions and let him find out what is 
the matter." 

A little farther on I met several Cubans 
who had improvised a stretcher made from a 
piece of canvas stretched over the limb of a 
tree. In this arrangement they were carrying 



1 84 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



a wounded officer, and tlicy had already car- 
ried him ])ossihly a mile. After making- a 
])iclnre of this curious incident, as the of^cer 
was in terril)le agony. 1 volunteered my 
service to help them along a little. I took 
hold of one end of the litter while the two 
Cubans took the other, and we hastily car- 
ried the officer toward the hosi)ital. 

Suddenly he opened his eyes and saw me, 
and said : " My friend, I am afraid I shall 
never reach the hospital. Won't you please 
let me rest here? " I asked him where he had 
been shot, and he answered. " In the side." 
I asked him if he had been bandaged, and he 
said: " Xo; but I have my hand on the place, 
and 1 dare not let it go, for 1 fear I should 
bleed to death." 

This of^ccr to my knowledge held his 
hand upon this wound, niade by a Mauser 
bullet, while he was being carried a distance 
of two miles. Such cases. howe\er, were not 
frequent, for generally whenever a man got 
woimded some of the Red Cross aids were 
soon close bv in attendance. They 1)andaged 
the men in the best way they could uiuil the 
field ambulances came aU)ng and took them 




u 



OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. igc 

to the hospital. At the hospital on the first 
day when the wounded arrived the scene was 
one of total confusion. Thev were scarcely 
ready at that time for the work of healing 
and attending the w^ounded. Operating sur- 
geons were very scarce, and, while Major 
Wood was turning everything almost upside 
down in order to make the men comfortable, 
it was absolutely beyond his power to do 
them all service. In some instances anaes- 
thetics were administered by persons ignorant 
of their use. Our losses were very heavy, for 
the stream of wounded men being brought in 
was almost continuous. 

There were several operating tents, each 
with two or three operating tables in 
them, and these tables were all occupied 
until long into the night. Amputations 
and minor surgical operations were numer- 
ous. The heat of the day was awful. A 
driver of a provision wagon who had brought 
in a load of wounded men from the front, 
and had left them before one of the operat- 
ing tents at the First Division Hospital, 
before taking his seat on the wagon to go 
out for another load went to his fore horse 

22 



1 86 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

to adjust some little (lisarrangement of the 
harness, when I saw him suddenly wa\er and 
fall almost at my feet. This man had been 
doing heroic duty in helping the wounded 
to the place where they would receive atten- 
tion and be cared for when he was suddenly 
overcome by sunstroke. This seemed a pity, 
but it was the fortune of war. In a moment 
another man was at the ambulance, up on the 
seat, and off with the wagon as though noth- 
ing had hap])ened. Helping hands raised the 
poor stricken dri\-er, took him to a shady 
nook, and there accorded him attention. 

While taking a picture at one of the op- 
erating tents of a man's leg being amputated, 
I had made two j)lates when suddenly I heard 
loud sobs. 1 turned to ask my assistant, Jim, 
for another holder, when I noticed tears 
streaming down his cheeks, his whole l)ody 
shaking and trembling. Seeing that he was 
about to fall, I gi'asped him and asked him 
the cause of his trouble. 

" Jack," he said, " I can stand to see these 
men shot. I saw them fall in battle; but this 
is something beyond my endurance." 

With that he colla]:)sed into my arms. It 



OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. 



187 



was not the sight of a single amputation 
which taxed his powers, but the other scenes 
of the poor, helpless wretches sitting around 
and biding their time for an opportunity to 
come under the edge of the knife or the grind- 
ing teeth of the surgical saw with an expect- 
ancy and desire as strong apparently as that 
of the gallery gods at the side ^loor of a popu- 
lar playhouse waiting the hour \\ ,- they can 
be admitted to purchase their tickets and see 
the performance. They were all anxious to 
have it over, and in some cases they displayed 
eagerness to undergo an operation which 
meant either Hfe after suffering or death while 
suffering great pain. 

After a man left the hands of the surgeon 
he was taken out from the operating tent 
an'' ^jlaced in ' jceiving tent, where he was 
supposed to get the necessary care and nour- 
ishment which his case required. As I went 
among these brave heroes, I was asked time 
and time again for a " drinl- something that 
would buoy them up, something that would 
give them a little iife. This v sadly want- 
ing in this ^■'-st Division Hospital. A man 
after un<l i a se ere surgical opera- 



1 88 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

tion wants some stimulant — somethin.jr to 
strcnglhcn his heart. sometliinL;- to act upon 
his nerves more beneficially than watching 
other men similarly afflicted undergoing as 
great or greater torture than that which he 
has just felt. But nothing in the way of 
brandv. whisky, or strychnine (which, I be- 
lieve, is used in many case to strengthen the 
heart) was given. Not being a medical man, 
I may be wrong about strychnine, but I am 
positive from my own observations that many 
of the wounded sufifered severely for want of 
a stimulant. 1 know that many a poor fellow 
lav there all that night through the drench- 
ing rain, and the following day also, with 
nothing but a cracker and a drink of water, 
when he should have had all the nourishment 
his case retiuired. This was another case 
where General Mismanagement and General 
Neglect were in connnruid. 

It was hard to see these poor men suffer- 
ing at this time, but one could not help them, 
as there was nothing to hel]) them with. Xo 
one was to blame for this treatment but the 
officials in the service of I'ncle Sam who were 
in charge of the various departments and who 



I 



OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. 



189 



permitted such lax work. It may answer 
some objectors when the statement is made 
that one man can not see that everything is 
done, but in my opinion this excuse does not 
fit the case. Has not the Government given 
these officials all the aid they want or could 
possibly use in the proper performance of the 
work in their departments, and are they not 
responsible just in the same manner as an 
employer in civil life holds responsible his 
superintendent and general manager? This 
shifting and dodging are characteristic of 
moss-covered officialdom and the doctrine of 
how not to do it. Surely the nation is en- 
titled to at least a portion of the energy not 
spent in self-admiration and to a few mo- 
ments of the time for which it pays more than 
ample remuneration. 

As I went back toward the fighting line 
the roads were crowded with the wounded 
who were being brought in. At the cross 
roads near the San Juan River a scene met 
my eyes which I shall never forget — a scene 
that looked like cold-blooded and wanton 
cruelty. To this place the men were con- 
ducted from points of danger, in order that 



190 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



they might be comparatively safe, and there 
they waited for the ambulances to come along 
and l)ear them to the rear. For hours and 
hours they were kept at this ])onit, and all 
the encouragement the wounded soldiers re- 
ceived were words of cheer from the wounded 
comrade on his right or left. luich one 
seemed to think the case of the man next to 
him was more deserving of sympathy than 
his own. 

1 remember talking to one i)oor fellow 
wh(j was shot in the back of the neck. I 
asked him how he came by a shot there. He 
said: " Well. 1 will tell you. It was my own 
company mate that did it. I was lying down 
in the grass, rather low, refilling my rifie. and 
I rose on m\' knee to fire, when suddenly 
m\' mate's gun was discharged and touched 
me." 

In making further in(iuiries, I found that 
main laid the blame of their wounds on 
men in their own companies. It was im- 
possible to see a man more than ten or 
fifteen feet beyond \ ou in such high grass 
and shrubbery as the army encountered 
on its wa\' to San juan. Hence it was 







...r, ;;;.;, IVI-. I.y \V. R IKarst. 

Cubans, near San Juan, carryinj^ a wounded soldier to the rear. 




CopyriKhl, H'J^, I.y W. K. llwirsi. 

A \V()unde<l l\oiji;h Rider beiii.i; lielped to hospital by Cubans. 



OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. 



191 



that men were shot by their own com- 
rades. 

The men who were kihed were being" 
buried as decently as circumstances would 
allow. One instance which I recall was that 
of four Cubans carrying one of our soldiers to 
the rear. They had borne him from the fir- 
ing line to a point where he was free from im- 
mediate danger. He was very badly shot. 
This is one thing I can not understand: sev- 
eral men will be in a skirmish line together; 
a whole volley is fired from the Spanish 
trenches, and a man who is scarcely ten feet 
from another w'ill escape every bullet, while 
the other man, his comrade on the right or 
left, will be pierced from head to foot. The 
man to whom I refer must have had six or 
seven bullet wounds in his body. The Cubans 
asked me if I had any water. I told them I 
had some in my canteen, and that I would 
give this poor fellow a drink. They stopped, 
and as they placed the litter down on the road 
I put the mouth of the canteen to the soldier's 
lips. But he was beyond the help of mortal. 
He had already breathed his last. His heart 
had ceased its beating and throbbing. 



IQ2 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

We took him aside, hastily (Iul;- a ,L;rave, 
and as we were about to cover him up with 
the earth, and there was no cha])]ain or theo- 
loi^ian to a(hninister tlie last rites to this i)Oor 
dead man. 1 took it ujjon mN'self to say de- 
voutlv, '■ hearth to earth, and ashes to ashes." 
coupled with an earnest inward hoi)e that he 
had gone to meet his (iod as a brave man 
should. 

The Cubans were (|uite imi)ressed with 
this simple ceremony, and at its conclusion, 
without waiting for anything, they started 
back to the line to aid others. I found that 
during the first and second days" lighting 
the Cubans had done good service in this 
manner. 

The manv recjuests T met at the hands of 
the wounded were varied and peculiar. Most 
of them bore their ])ain with great fortitude 
all through : cries and moans were seldom 
heard, and onl\- in cases of extreme agony 
would a sound be uttered. As they had 
shown bra\er\- on the fighting line, so was 
their conduct under the lance, knife, saw. and 
needle of the surgeons. I saw several opera- 
tions where the subjects entering emerged 



OUR BOLD ROUGH RIDERS. 1Q3 

victims, and as they were laid out for burial 
and Old Glory waved its folds above them I 
thought : Such is the hero's reward from 
his country; what his Maker gives we know 
not. 



CHArTER XTV. 

SHARPSHOOTERS IN ACTION'. 

Persecution by Spanish marlvsmen — Narrow escapes from 
death — The captuie of the bloclchouse — Life in the 
trenches — The roll call. 

I OMITTED to say that the second day's 
battle opened very early in the morning- with 
volley tiring- from the Spanish trenches before 
Santiago, and was at once answered by the 
repeating fire of the American forces. I was 
that night cam])e(l at General Shafter's head- 
quarters, and early in the morning, almost be- 
fore daybreak, we were suddenly aroused by 
the noise. I (|uickly scrambled to my feet and 
in(|nired the cause from some of the troopers 
of the I'ifth Artillery. [ was told we were 
being iired upon b}- shari)shooters. 

What caused the enemy's sharpshooters 

to make ;in attack upon General Shafter's 

head(|uarters was, 1 imagine, because they 

knew he was not in the tield. but was off here 
194 



23 



SHARPSHOOTERS IN ACTION. 



195 



in liis headquarters, five or six miles from the 
firing line. General Shafter was much indis- 
posed during the first and second days' bat- 
tle, and was continually confined to his cot. 
Most of the time an attendant was rubbing 
his head, for what purpose I can not imagine, 
but the general must have derived much com- 
fort from it, for the man was engaged in a 
" continuous performance." I was rather sur- 
prised to know that a general in charge of 
such a force of men at such an important time 
would permit himself to be so far in the rear 
of his forces, but such was the information 
I personally acquired at this period. 

The Fifth Artillery went in search of these 
sharpshooters, and they did not travel far 
before they located them in several large 
mango trees. These boys were angry at being 
interrupted during roll call and having to 
postpone their breakfast, and they made 
short shrift of these " dagoes " who dared per- 
petrate such a trick on the general's head- 
quarters. These sharpshooters. I understand 
from relial)le information, were men who had 
received sentences of life imprisonment for 
various crimes, and thev were armed and sent 



1C)6 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

on this duty with the understancHng- that if 
they earned their freedom they might have it. 
They were told the\- were to be free men at 
the end of tlie war. hut this was the perilous 
price which they had to pay. The stake was 
sufficient inducement to make them risk their 
lives, and man\' were prevented from finish- 
ing their term of service either in prison or 
in the ranks by our bullets. 

Some troo])ers after breakfast v»ere sent 
along to Kl Caney with hospital wagons to 
bring in the wounded to the general hospital. 
As r wanted to see Kl Caney again and get 
some good photographs of the town and the 
fort, it having been too late on the previous 
evening to make good pictures. 1 followed 
along with this detachment of troo])s. We 
had been warned that sharj^shooters were all 
along the trail from general ]iead(|uarters to 
El Caney. This was a march of four or five 
miles, and we were continually expecting 
some excitement. Nothing of importance, 
however, occurred e.\ce]it the false alarm 
given at intervals by those plagued land crabs. 
We soon arrived at the main road leading to 
El Canev. On reaching- the orates and the 




Copyright, ls9s, by \V I: I 

On the hum l(ir Sjianish sharpshooters near San Juan. 



SHARPSHOOTERS IN ACTION. jq; 

barricades with which this road had been forti- 
fied, we were suddenly fired upon from a 
blockhouse on a mountain just beyond this 
little town. At first I thought it was some of 
our own troops who were firing, through ig- 
norance of who we were, but as I saw our 
men in the fort to our right waving and beck- 
oning to us to lie low, I knew something else 
was up. We could not understand being 
fired upon, and thought it might possibly 
come from Cubans; but we were told by sev- 
eral Cubans who were with us that the block- 
house just beyond this town was still occu- 
pied by Spaniards. This did not affect us 
very materially, for I went to work and made 
several pictures of the town, its surroundings, 
and the blockhouse beyond. 

The scene in and about this little town 
was awful. Dead bodies were lying around 
in profusion, dead horses were numerous, and 
the vultures were having quite a feast. The 
people of El Caney had not yet returned to 
the town, and, as a consequence, their dead 
had not been removed from the roadways and 
paths in which they were shot down. In 
crossing from one house on the outskirts of 



198 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



this town and in goint;- over the fences toward 
the churcli I came across a very jjiiiable sight 
in one of the back yards of one of the Httle 
shanties. .\ httle hoy had been going from 
one vard In another through a hole in the 
fence se])arating them, and had got about 
halfwav through when he must have come in 
the line of a bullet or piece of shell tired from 
our artillerv. for one side of his head was en- 
tirely blcnvn away and the child lay tlat on 
his face. 

I returned to the lower road and made 
toward the main fort at El Caney. when tir- 
ing was resumed more \igorotisl}". and it be- 
came api)arent that we were the targets of 
some Spaniards half or three ijuarters of a 
mile awaw ( )in- boys who were in the fort 
veiled and waxed to us to get out of the line 
of their vision; l)ut we wei"e after pictures, 
and had to ]ia\e theiu, so we stood the tiring 
as long as was necessary. 

When we reached an old tttmble-down 
ho\el which lay directly in front of the fort 
I halted my horse, and. as I wanted to have 
a somewhat ekwated ])osition for taking a 
photo, 1 stood up in the stirru])S and held 



SHARPSHOOTERS IN ACTION. igg 

my camera as high as I possibly could in order 
to make a picture of the surrounding coun- 
try and the field of battle over which our boys 
had so gallantly charged on the preceding 
day. Aly man Jim was holding the horse's 
head, so as to keep him as still as possible, 
when suddenly a Mauser bullet caught Jim 
on the side of the cheek and just furrowed 
out the flesh. We decided then that we 
would no longer be targets for men securely 
sheltered at long range, where we could do 
them no harm even if we so desired. 

We returned to the main road, intending 
to make our way to San Juan. After we had 
proceeded about half a mile I discovered that 
I had lost the releasing bulb from my camera. 
This was unpleasant information, as it was 
impossible for me to make any more pictures 
without this bulb, so we had to go back over 
the ground again to search for this requisite 
adjunct to my camera. We found it finally 
ten feet from where we started. Returning, 
we had to cross the line of fire of the Span- 
iards in the blockhouse who had tried to pink 
us before, and they did not refrain from fir- 
ing at us on our way back. This time, how- 



200 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

ever, we were fortunate in seeing some of our 
cavalry troops apjiroaching. and when we met 

tlicin \vc told thcni wliat liad hai)])cncd. 
They said they had heard of it, and were going 
to stop it. They advanced to the block- 
house, and after a short engagement the 
S])aniards within ignominiously surrendered, 
hut there were only four miserable survivors 
in the party. They were brought in and 
placed with the other prisoners who were 
being sent to General Shafter's headquarters 
at Playa. 

These men afterward quite frankly ad- 
mitted to a sergeant that we were the only 
game they saw that morning, and they wanted 
to bag us if they could; that we came and 
made excellent targets for them, but they 
could not manage to hit us. This was pleas- 
ant news, and I congratulated m\self upon 
their lack of skill in marksmanship: and 1 
told them that had the conditions been re- 
versed, and the gim been in my hand, the re- 
sult nn'ght ha\-e been dilYerent. 1 then lev- 
elled my camera at them, and they thought it 
a diminutive magazine, for they shrank from 
it with fear and wontlerment. 



SHARPSHOOTERS IN ACTION. 20I 

In l)ringing these prisoners captured at 
El Caney to the headquarters of General 
Shafter. they showed their dissatisfaction at 
having- to walk the five or six miles interven- 
ing. They said: " Why do you take us so 
far to kill us? If you are going to kill us, why 
not do it here? " This was characteristic. 

When they were told that they were to 
be taken to camp and fed on decent rations, 
they would scarcely believe it. looking upon 
our story as a fairy tale. It seemed to them 
incredible that after what they had done we 
should be so lenient to them as to spare their 
lives and, more than all, feed them as we fed 
our own soldiers. They knew right well that 
thev would not treat American prisoners in 
the same way. but. far from seeing the supe- 
riority of our merciful code of ethics, they 
looked upon us with something akin to con- 
tempt. They probably recalled the treatment 
they had given the poor Cubans they cap- 
tured, and they expected the same fate at our 
hands. They were, however, most agreeably 
disappointed. 

\\n-ien they arrived at Shafter's headquar- 
ters they were transferred to a camp, where 



202 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

ihcy were made comfortable, to await further 
disposition at General Shafter's convenience. 
'J'wo lienten.ants who were ca])lured among 
the other jjrisoners at 1^1 C'anev were hrought 
to General Shafter. I inter\iewed and photo- 
graphed them, after which ordeal thev were 
ushered into the presence of Cieneral Shafter 
for cross-examination as to their ])osition and 
for other information that they might be 
willing to gi\e in regard to the Spanish forces. 
It was quite a contrast to see this soldierly 
Spanish lieutenant in the presence of Cieneral 
Shafter; for. while this officer stood erect 
witli his hat in his hand and his blanket under 
his arm. General Shafter was reposing leisure- 
ly, without his uniform on. upon a couch, 
with an inter])reter at one end of the couch 
and the Spanish lieutenant whom Genera! 
Shafter was examining standing at the other. 
I was at hand here to make a ])icture, as 
I thought it (|uite a good subject, when 1 was 
peremj)torily ordei'ed a\\a\- b\- oue of ( ieneral 
Shafter's aids. This S])aiiish lieutenant was 
kept in the detention cam]) for two or three 
<lays. after which he was e\entuall\' exchanged 
for 1 .ieulenant 1 lobson. 




Copvil-llt. |S!IS, l,y \V. R. ll,;iist. 

Spanish lieutenants on the way to General Shafter's headquarters. 
One was exchanged for Lieutenant Hobson. 



I 



SHARPSHOOTERS IN ACTION. 



203 



I next proceeded to the front to find out 
how our boys were progressing. They had 
been at it hot and heavy all day, and as the 
afternoon came on large clouds, very ominous 
looking, were coming up in the southwest. 
The lightning became very vivid and loud 
peals of thunder were heard, and soon a se- 
vere thunderstorm burst over the entire field 
of action. The rain came down in torrents, 
and it was a cold, midwinter rain. It was so 
cold that some of the drops turned into hail. 
I made for a sheltering tree, and covered my 
camera and plates with a rubber blanket, 
while we got soaked to the skin ourselves. 
This storm lasted for an hour or so, when 
suddenly the sun broke forth from behind 
clouds and sent its rays in all their tropical 
intensity down upon the scene, which was 
soon a reeking and stewing mass. The firing 
did not cease during this little wetting. It 
continued until nightfall. 

Life with the troops in the trenches at 
night is not very enjoyable, yet it is well 
worth the experience for the novelty of the 
thing. At night, when hostilities have ap- 
parently ceased, the soldiers intrench them- 
24 



204 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



selves and throw up breastworks, and by 
other means seek to fortify themselves against 
the attacks of the enemy on the coming day: 
While in this i)osition it is desirable and 
necessary that one should conceal one's self, 
and no fire can be lit for the purpose of cook- 
ing a pot of coffee or frying a little l)acon. 
so one has to subsist upon hard-tack and 
water. This diet makes life in the trenches 
almost unbearable. 

As soon as one has l)ccome comfortably 
ensconced and darkness has set in. s(iuads of 
men arc sent out to InuU for a good sujiply 
of water. A man starts o(i with a dozen can- 
teens strung from his shoulder, always on the 
alert for what may happen. Pickets are sta- 
tioned and outposts are cautioned to be on 
the alert, for a sudden night attack is always 
to be guarded against. Those with tobacco 
had a luxury, and those haxing matches were 
e(|uall\' fortunate, for a match that is able 
to do dutv after nmcli ser\-ice in the jiocket 
of a private drenched with rain and sweat was 
a je\\el of the hrst water, indeed, and one not 
fre(|uentl\ found. Tobacoo is all right if you 
have it; therefore matches were at a high 




Copyright, 1S98, by W. R. Hearst. 

United States trooper and Cuban scouts trailing Spanish sharpshooters. 



SHARPSHOOTERS IN ACTION. 



205 



premium. The men were all eager at this 
time to learn who had been taken off bv the 
day's engagement, and who had been left 
with them. The officers were very busy find- 
ing out how man}- men they had lost, for 
while in battle it was the duty of every man 
to go forward, even if his brother should drop 
by his side, so long as he was able to hold a 
gun and fire a bullet. It was the duty of 
those who followed to take care of the wound- 
ed, and how well they did it is fully exempli- 
fied by the small list of missing on the rolls 
of our army at the present time. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 

How Cervera's squadron put out of Santiago and was de- 
stroyed — Photographing the stranded ships — A capture of 
Spanish prisoners. 

Sunday, July 3. 1898. will long be remem- 
bered in tlie navy of Uncle Sam. The long- 
looked-for Heet of Admiral Cervera was at 
hand, and there was to l)e an engagement. 
The Maine was to be remembered, fhe fleet 
which Spain had sent to Cuba, and wliich had 
been i)laying at hide-and-seek until bottled up 
in Santiago, w^as now- to make that memorable 
dash out of the harbour — in truth an effort for 
liberty, glory, or death. The sinking of the 
Merrimac had not stopped the fleet of Cer- 
vera from making its exit from the harbour. 
The brave Lieutenant Ilobson and the heroes 
who accompanied him. who at the risk of 
their li\cs went in there and sank the Merri- 
mac in order that Cer\era might not be able 
206 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 207 

to get his fleet out of the long neck of this 
harbour, which was Hkened to a bottle, did 
not have the pleasure of seeing this fleet de- 
stroyed, for it was not until three days after 
the destruction of this fleet that these brave 
men were released by exchange from the 
hands of the enemy. 

On this beautiful Sunday morning, as the 
men were just finishing cjuarters, a lookout 
on one of the ships of the blockading squad- 
ron suddenly saw in the distance a column 
of smoke rising over the land close by the 
harbour entrance, which appeared to be the 
smoke issuing from the funnel of a steamer 
which was making headway toward the 
mouth of the harbour of Santiago. This was 
reported to the signal quartermaster, who 
sent the news to the officer of the deck on 
his ship. The news was flashed around the 
fleet with surprising quickness, and every one 
was at once on deck scanning the entrance 
of Santiago harbour with glasses. It did 
not take long to determine that something 
unusual was on foot, and before long the fore- 
most of the vessels in this line composing Ad- 
miral Cervera's fleet, the Maria Teresa, which 



2o8 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

was Admiral C"er\era's flat^shij). made its ap- 
pearance round the headland and a dash for 
the o])en sea. The ships of the American 
fleet were not expecting this movement, and 
they were not at all prepared for it as they 
would have been had they been forewarned. 
I')Ut it does not take long for an American 
Jacky to adapt himself to any circumstances. 

Signals were soon fl>'ing from the Brook- 
lyn, the Hagship of Admiral Schley, for Ad- 
miral Sampson was al)sent, having gone to 
the eastward as far as Siboney to have a con- 
sultation with (ieneral Shaft er; therefore the 
duty of destroying the Spanish fleet fell to 
Admiral Schley and the captains of the vari- 
ous shi])s, and how admiral )l}- thev did it the 
world knows. 

The last time I saw the Ocpicndo and the 
\'iscaya was the evening u])on which I sailed 
out of Haxana harbour and so defiantly 
wa\ed the Stars and Stripes of America. Xow 
they were about to do what brave Ca])tain 
Eulatc had said when he \isited Xew York 
some time ])rior to the declaration of war — 
namelw that if the time e\er came to show 
the power of the N'iscaya, the .\merican j^eo- 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 209 

pie would be surprised at her efficiency; but, 
alas! she was doomed to a sad fate, and Eu- 
late to a like disappointment. Whatever his 
plans or whatever the ideas of victory the 
Spaniards nursed within their swarthy breasts 
were soon brought to naught. 

At the time the fleet emerged from be- 
yond the fortress of the ^lorro the ships 
seemed to be heading for the gallant cruiser 
Brooklyn. It looked as though thev intended 
to concentrate their force on this fast cruiser, 
crush her by overwhelming odds, and then 
speed oft' with what remained of their fleet, 
leaving the slow-going battle ships to follow- 
after them as they disappeared. But it takes 
two to make a plan, and the more is this to 
be considered when the two concerned are 
not on terms of amity. They had heard of 
the Brooklyn's speed; they knew of her ef- 
fectiveness; they knew she was their main op- 
ponent; and they thought that by disabling 
or destroying her they might make their 
escape. From us, a long distance away on 
the Sylvia, it appeared that they were mak- 
ing directly for the Brooklyn, with the inten- 
tion of annihilating her before she had a 



2IO CANNON AND CAMERA. 

chance to recoxcr from the first surprise and 
onslaui^ht. Ikit soon this seemingly hazard- 
ous position was changed into one of ag- 
gressive activity. Captain Cook, of the 
Brooklyn, was not to be caught napping, but 
by a series of splendid manoeuvres he got 
the Brook]}!! into a position where she be- 
came a formidable aggressor instead of the 
object of attack. Things changed in such 
short order that it was absolutely impossible 
for one like myself, unaccpiainted with na\"al 
tactics and evolutions, to comprehend the ob- 
ject and i)urpose of the movements, and yet 
how plain the advantage when it was all com- 
pleted! At a distance of three or four miles 
1 watched the annihilation of this Cape de 
Verde fleet. 

Coming out of the harbour of Santiago, 
the following order was observed: The first 
ship flying Spain's flag was the Maria Teresa, 
the flagshi]) of Admiral Cervera. She was fol- 
lowed l)\- the X'iscaya, the Cristobal Colon, 
the Almirante Ocjuendo, and the two torpedo 
boats. Furor and IMuton. As soon as they 
were outside Morro the\' oi)cncMl tire. 1 he 
forts assisted the fleet, and it seemed to 



(»:>; 



ner 


w 












■^ 










'i ? 




9 


f 


*"**■ 


'i?ia|| 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 21I 

me as though the American squadron was 
doomed to serious loss. They exchanged 
shots in rapid succession, when all at once 
the Spanish fleet altered their course and 
made off to the westward in an attempt to 
escape. They had not proceeded more than 
three or four miles before the ]\Iaria Teresa 
was in a helpless condition and made for the 
beach. The men under Admiral Cervera on 
the ]\Iaria Teresa fought gallantly, as far as 
we could see. After she had surrendered and 
the Gloucester had run the two torpedo boats 
ashore, the Oquendo quickly followed, and, 
after an unequal battle. Captain Eulate, of 
the \"iscaya, was compelled to do likewise. 
This left but the Colon, and the Brooklyn 
was in hot pursuit of her, the Oregon and 
the Texas also following. This was a most 
rapid chase, and a slow boat was nowhere 
in it, and could not even keep sight of these 
flying ocean batteries. As the Brooklyn 
bounded after the Colon, it was a sight to 
make glad an American soul. She abso- 
lutely leaped through the water at a speed 
almost unknown hitherto ; flames poured 
forth from her smokestacks, and it was evi- 



212 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

dent tliat the men in llie lire wnnu were 
doino- their (lnt\- like true men on this occa- 
sion. It seemed as tlmuuh they were pour- 
ing oil on the coals instead of ordinary fuel, 
so as to get all possible speed out of the ves- 
sel. 1\'ilk about having a hone in her teeth- 
she had several. Captain Cook did not in- 
tend to lose this pri/.e. therefore all steam and 
power were ])ut on. The men at the batteries 
were firing as they gradually closed in on her, 
when suddenly they came abreast and the 
second.arv batteries of the Ih'ooklyn could be 
seen pouring a most destructive tu'e into the 
Si)aniar(l. 

After a chase of about two hours and a 
half the Colon was cornered, and at about 
half past one she ran her bows on the beach 
at Rio Tarcjuino, about tifty miles from San- 
tiago. Captain Cook sent a boat to the 
Colon to receive the surrender. The captain 
of the Colon asked him under what ccMidi- 
tions the surrender was retjuired. The reply 
called for an unconditional surrender. 

The Spaniards then gave three cheers for 
the brave .1 inrricdiios. and the crew of the 
Brooklvn answered back with three hearty 



25 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 



213 



cheers for the Spaniards. When the men 
were taken prisoners and removed to the dif- 
ferent boats a great many of the men and 
of^cers were taken on board the Resohite, 
formerly the Ward Line steamship York- 
town, other prisoners being sent to the flag- 
ship New York and the Vixen. The New 
York, Texas, and Oregon stood by the de- 
feated ship for some hours, the Brooklyn 
leaving in a hurry, as she had received word 
from some source or another that a Spanish 
war ship was seen to the southward. Her 
men were hastily called to quarters, and they 
were prepared for another battle, only to find 
after a long run that the boat sighted was 
not a Spanish, but an Austrian cruiser. The 
Oregon returned then to Santiago. On her 
way back I had the pleasure of making one 
of the most striking pictures of a battle ship 
that it has been my pleasure and good for- 
tune to take. The men were all in high glee 
and the ship was in fighting trim, and she 
looked the very bulldog of the American nav> 
that she is. 

The sunken ships — but scarcely can we 
call them that, for, while they were beached. 



214 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

they were not much submerged — were sent 
on to the beach head foremost, and were lying 
in two or three fathoms of water. When 
thev were run on shore a great many of the 
sailors and minor officers swam ashore and 
escaped toward Santiago; tnhcrs who tried 
to escape had made for the l)each at Aser- 
radero. A ])arty of Cubans who were doing 
scout duty in and about this point saw some 
Spanish sailors escaping, and as they ap- 
proached the shore the Cubans shot them in 
the water, and the water was stained with the 
blood of tliese fleeing wretches. Many of 
their bodies were washed ashore by the surf, 
and thev were taken charge of ])y the Cubans 
and spread out as a feast for vultures and buz- 
zards. 

Returning from the Colon late in the 
afternoon, she and her consorts presented a 
dilapidated and terrible sight. What had 
once been the bright and buoyant hope of 
the Spanish na\)- were now helpless hulks 
strewn along Cuba's southern shore. 

The next day was the 4th of jul\-. We 
awoke about live o'clock in the morning, 
Iving off the \'iscaya. Captain L"lark had 




en 

be 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 



215 



run the Sylvia out to the Viscaya, so that 
we might be on hand the first thing in the 
morning to get some good pictures of this 
wrecked vessel. We passed close to her and 
took views from all possible positions, after 
which we put ofif in a whaleboat and boarded 
her. As we came alongside the Viscaya, in 
climbing up the sea ladder, we found it al- 
most too hot to place our hands upon her. 
Our party consisted of Mr. Hearst, Mr. Fol- 
lansbee, the ship's mate, and several others, 
and we boarded her and saw the terrible havoc 
that fire and shell had wrought. The girders 
which supported the main deck were twisted 
into every conceivable grotesque shape. The 
gun deck and the superstructure were totally 
demolished ; all the woodwork, which had 
been so beautifully cleaned and polished, was 
destroyed. Nothing combustible could be 
found. The charred remains of many of the 
sailors were strewn around, some hanging 
from the iron girders and beams in all sorts 
of positions. Carcasses of animals were also 
to be found. We made a thorough investi- 
gation and secured a great many souvenirs, 
consisting of Mauser rifles, revolvers, and 



2i6 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

bunches of keys. From one of tlie fourteen- 
centimetre tiuTets I took a roster the glass 
of which had heen cracked into smaH bits by 
the intense heat of the tire on the X'iscaya. 

Below decks holes had been ripped 
through her sides, and one or two shells had 
pierced her ])rotected belt. In her forecastle 
terrible ha\-oc had been wrought by a large 
shell. luther a magazine or a torpedo had 
been exploded Ijy this shell, and the foremast 
had been entirely u])rooted and thrown across 
the bridge, totally demolishing it. The u])])er 
gun deck and the smokestacks and the places 
where the rapid-tire guns had been mounted 
were literally blown to pieces. 

The forward ten-inch rifle was seemingly 
in perfect condition. It was pointed at a 
rather high elevation, and possiblv this ac- 
counts for the many shots going over the 
vessels at which she aimed. .\s we proceeded 
along the full length of the \'iscaya we came 
to the (|uarter-deck. and there saw most hor- 
rible havoc. The deck was as bare as a bil- 
liard ball. Everything was consumed; every- 
thing had been made aw'ay with that was in- 
flannnable. The after ten-inch ritle was in 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 



217 



the same condition as the gun forward, but 
it was loaded. The men had evidently left 
it in a hurry. On the starboard side an abra- 
sion was plainly visible, and it looked as 
though she had been hit here by one of our 
shells. I raised myself to the top of the after 
turret, and made several views of the interior; 
I also made several views looking forward to- 
ward the bridge from the quarter-deck. The 
mainmast had been smashed, and had fallen 
obliquely across this after gun. The beauti- 
ful decorative work which made the Viscaya 
so conspicuous when she was in New York 
and Havana harbours had been torn off her 
stern, evidently to disguise her, as her name 
was very conspicuous on this decorative work 
when I last saw her. Everything of this kind 
had been ripped from her, and nothing had 
been left but a small wreath, on w'hich was the 
word " Viscaya." Several large holes, appar- 
ently made by shells from the eight-inch rifles 
on our ships, were seen on her starboard 
quarter. After this w^e left the Viscaya and 
proceeded to the Oquendo. 

As we reached the side of the Oquendo 
the Suwanee hove in sight, and Lieutenant 



2i8 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

lUuc and a boat's crew put off for the shore 
ill answer to the signal of a while tlai; on the 
l)each. As they a|)i)roached the shore, the 
breakers and surf were so hea\y tliat Lieuten- 
ant r.hie was thrown from tlic boat into the 
water. All efforts made to land here were 
without a\ail. and after a time they gave up 
the idea and returned to their vessel It was 
at this point that I found great difficulty in 
our launch trying to make pictures of the 
( )(|iiendo. The breakers rolled in with tre- 
mendous force. I succeeded, howexer, in 
making a \iew" from the launch showing the 
terrible hammering on the starboard plates 
of the ()(|uen(lo. About amidshi])s the 
work of our l)ig guns was strikingl\- mani- 
fest. Ihe sponsons of the rapid-fire gims 
were completely demolished, and the guns 
were hanging down o\er the side ready 
to drop at an\' moment. .\s we were ho\"- 
ering around the ( )(|uendo an explosion 
occurred from one of her guns, caused evi- 
dently by the intense heat, foi" she was still 
on hre and smoking badlw It was im])os- 
sibk- to board her at this time; we were, in- 
deed, cautioned not to go on board her, as 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 2IQ 

her magazines were likely to explode at any 
moment. 

We next proceeded toward the Maria 
Teresa, which lay closer to the Morro. Close 
by her we saw a large party on shore, which 
through our glasses appeared to be a party 
of Cubans. They were waving a white flag, 
and as we hove in sight they tried their best 
to attract our attention, in which effort they 
succeeded. We went in as close to the Maria 
Teresa as was safe, and made several pictures 
from the Sylvia, after which Mr. Hearst, my- 
self, and my man put off in the steam launch 
and made for the surf to investigate the fel- 
lows ashore. As w^e approached the beach 
we could plainl}^ see that these men were 
more naked than clothed, and we hesitated 
for a while before deciding what we should 
do. We saw also that a great many of the 
men were armed with machetes and Mauser 
rifles, and thus it w^as doubtful whether they 
were Spaniards or Cubans. At last we made 
up our minds to run the chances, and if these 
were Spaniards to take them prisoners. After 
a lot of tossing and being thrown about by 
the heavy breakers, we landed. When we 



220 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

reached the beach we found these men were 
sailors who had escaped from the Spanish 
vessels. Nineteen were from the N'iscaya. 
three from the Ocjtiendo. seven from the 
Maria Teresa, makinj^: a total of twenty-nine. 
After makinf^ an impression up(jn these poor 
wretches and tlashinj^- our tirearms we ^i;-ave 
them to miderstand that they were our pris- 
oners. The Cul>ans helped us to get the men 
into a boat, and they were soon on board the 
Sylvia. 

During our stay on the beach waiting the 
rctiuMi of our laimch se\'eral bodies from the 
Maria Teresa were washed ashore. We took 
these bodies into the woods and buried them 
as best we could. 

The wreckage that was being thrown on 
shore was varied in its nature. I foimd a six- 
inch shell case, and also a i)air of marine 
glasses. These I value as mementos of this 
great and glorious naval engagement. After 
getting these men to the Sylvia, we pro- 
ceeded in our boat and thoroughly over- 
hauled the Maria Teresa. When we got on 
board the Maria Teresa a sight met our eyes 
which was nuich worse than anv we had 




26 



!i 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 



221 



experienced while on board the Viscava. 
Charred bodies of many of the sailors were 
plainly visible on all parts of the gun deck. 
Xo matter where yon went, there you would 
find them. On the port side of this ship the 
guns were all empty and the breech plugs 
missing from all the guns, having been 
thrown overboard before the surrender. On 
the starboard side the guns were in position 
and loaded, with the breech blocks in posi- 
tion. It was evident that they had no chance 
to lire the guns of the starboard battery, for 
as she proceeded along the coast from Morro, 
going in a westerly direction, nothing but 
her port battery was exposed to the Ameri- 
can fleet. 

We heard from the sailors who had been 
taken prisoners that the men had refused to 
serve at the guns when they saw it was a 
hopeless case, and, instead of the men in the 
fire rooms of these vessels remaining at their 
posts and pouring in their fuel, as did our 
men, they were continually running to the 
upper deck, looking for a chance to escape. 
They positively refused to serve at either the 
guns or the engines. \\'e were told by our 



222 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

prisoners that the officers had shot with their 
revolvers nineteen men who had refused to 
comply with the orders which were given by 
the achiiiral on his flagship. 

The foremast of the Maria Teresa had 
been uprooted l)y some cause, possibly by a 
large shell, for it fell directly lengthwise of 
the boat toward the stern. In the fighting 
top of the Alaria Teresa 1 found a magazine 
full of cartridges that belonged to a rapid- 
fire gun ; also a partly burned pack of Span- 
ish cards which had been almost totally de- 
stroyed, but just in the middle of the pack 
where the fii"e, although it had been smould- 
ering' for hours, had not effected its work, 
there were five or six cards almost as perfect 
as when new. but dirty and begrimed from 
constant use. It may have been that during 
the idle moments on board the flagship in 
the harbour of Santiago the men. ha\ing 
nothing else to do, whiled away the hours in 
plaving the limit with these Spanish cards. 
I took these cards, thinking what a uni([ue 
memento they would make. 

We now retm-necl to the S\l\ia to find 
ottt how our Spani>li prisoners were getting 



Il 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 



223 



along. We found them on the forward deck, 
being cared for by our party and the crew. 
Their wounds, bruises, and broken bones were 
being attended to by our party, who had 
turned themselves into a corps of hospital 
attendants. It was here that I met a Spanish 
sailor whom I knew. He had been Captain 
Eulate's orderly while the Viscaya was in 
Havana Bay, and during my stay in Havana 
at the Pasaje Hotel it was his duty to bring 
despatches and orders to the ofificers stay- 
ing there. He recognised me as I came on 
board the Sylvia, and told me how pleased 
he was that it was all over. I asked him 
if they expected to escape, and he said 
they certainly did not. and their only hope 
was that they would go through the fight 
with as little loss as possible. They were 
glad to be rid of the strain and anxiety they 
had undergone for so many weeks, and 
they were also glad to be in the hands of 
such tender and generous foes as the Ameri- 
canos. 

Just then the good fighting Texas hove 
alongside. W'e had signalled her that we had 
some prisoners on board, and she informed 



224 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



US thai, while she cuuhl not take them, it 
would be best for us to transfer them to the 
St. Louis, whicli was a1)out t(j sail for Key 
West. As the Texas was close to us, 1 told 
our Spanish ])risoners that the American boys 
would like them to give three cheers for the 
(lay. as it was the glorious 4lh of July. In- 
dependence Day of the Americans. One of 
the Spanish prisoners who understood Eng- 
lish, and doubtless belonged to the repub- 
licans of his country, said the sailors would 
gladly join in cheering the Americans, for 
while the day commemorated an anniversary 
of Independence Day with the Americans, 
that he looked upon it as independence day 
for his countrymen. 1 mounted the rail with 
the S])anish ])risoners. and waving the same 
little flag that I had flaunted in their faces on 
leaving Havana when seeing the \'iscava and 
Oquendo in a more noble comlition than was 
now presented by them, the same flag that 
covered the graves of the Maine heroes in 
Colon cemetery, the same little flag that was 
placed on the grave of that brave Rough 
Kider llamilton ImsIi. who died for his coun- 
try at Las Guasimas. these Spanish j)risoners 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 



225 



gave three as lusty cheers as ever came from 
men's throats. 

The boys on the Texas appreciated it, 
and, as the echo of the three cheers for 
" George Washington and Old Glory " were 
dying out the boys of the Texas took it up 
and gave three more, with a " tiger." Mr. 
Hearst then ordered that these prisoners 
should have plenty to eat and drink, and after 
they had their wounds dressed and they were 
clothed in the best we could give them, many 
of them being naked when we found them, 
we steamed alongside the St. Louis and trans- 
ferred them. Mr. Hearst getting a receipt for 
them. 

We now proceeded to Siboney, where we 
found that Mr. Creelman had been brought 
from the field hospital by Mr. Follansbee, and 
they were waiting our arrival. After taking 
them on board, we proceeded to Port An- 
tonio with the pictures we had made during 
the last two days. 

I was now busily engaged for some time 
in developing my plates, and it was an anx- 
ious moment to me as we went bounding 
over the choppy waters of the Caribbean Sea. 



226 CANNUN AND CAMERA. 

Seasickness did not bother me then, as I was 
too anxious to see the resiiUs of the nega- 
tives made on such an im|)()i"lant occasion. 
I found I liad got some great resuhs. and 
before \vc had reached Port Antonio tliey 
were all ready for jirinting. 

The next day, Tuesday, July 5th, 1 made 
some i)rints from them, which we sent by 
mail, and wc then returned to Siboney. At 
daylight on the morning of July 7th we low- 
ered a boat, and 1 and my man once more 
went on board the ]\Iaria Teresa to get some 
interior views. While thus engaged the lit- 
tle Gloucester hove in sight, and she put off 
a boat, which came alongside the Maria Te- 
resa, when to my surprise who should I see 
jump out of the boat but Lieutenant 1 lob- 
son, who had been exchanged, and was now 
accompanied 1)\' the board of inspection who 
were to report on the condition of the 
wrecked vessels and the advisability of mak- 
ing efforts to raise them. 1 could not resist 
the strong ini])nlse to gras]) the hero of the 
Merrimac b\- the hand when he reached the 
deck of the \esscl, or rather not the deck, for 
there was no deck to the vessel now, but the 



THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE. 



227 



iron beams which had once supported the 
deck. While standing here, Lieutenant Hob- 
son gazed around him and said, " Indeed, this 
is a terrible wreck." He was bareheaded, 
having lost his hat overboard, and the sun 
was pouring down its rays very severely. I 
offered him my hat, and he said, " Oh, no, the 
men will recover my hat as soon as the rest of 
the commission are on board." 

It was here that I had an opportunity to 
get a good chat with Lieutenant Hobson. 
I asked how the Spaniards treated him, and 
he said that, considering everything, the 
treatment was very fair. He said he did not 
learn of Cervera leaving Santiago harbour 
until several days afterward, when he was ex- 
changed, and heard it while passing through 
the Spanish lines. He told me his reception 
by the troops of the army was something he 
was proud of. something he never had an- 
ticipated, but which would leave a lasting 
and profound impression upon him. He said 
it was a triumphal march practically from 
Santiago to Siboney, with his hands being 
shaken all the way and questions poured on 
him from all sides. Reaching Sibonev, he was 



228 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

taken off in a lanncli to the tla^sliip of Ad- 
miral Sampson, and, after spending- the night 
there, he started to duty with this com- 
mission. 

I went with him in and about the Maria 
Teresa, and saw a great deal of this vessel. 
Lieutenant Hobson told me then that he 
thought it possible to save this ship, as she 
was not injured below her jirotective deck 
to any serious extent, and that the w^ater now 
in her came from the tube of the after tor- 
l)edo. On Sept. 25th. the Maria Teresa 
was floated and towed to Guantanamo Bay. 
proving that Lieut. Hobson's judgment was 
correct. He said that he regretted not 
ha\-ing seen this l)attle, but he was very 
pleased ^' ' he had been safe from the bom- 
bardmeuc of Santiago, which had occurred 
a few davs previous. Tt will be rememberetl 
that Admiral Cervera had caused Hobson 
and his conu^ades to be remoxed to a post 
far distant from our line of tire some days 
before the bombardment began, by Admiral 
Sampson's demand. 



27 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 

General Miles prevents a retreat — General Toral yields to 
moral suasion and gives up the city. 

General Miles's arrival at Siboney, and 
his appearance at the headquarters of General 
Shafter, where they had a long consultation, 
put a different face upon affairs for our troops 
lying in front of Santiago. General Shafter, 
according to the reports in camp, for several 
days had been contemplating a retreat. The 
rank and file had been made aware of his ob- 
ject and were strenuously objecting to it. 
As one officer remarked. " Wli^t possible 
benefit is to be derived from a retreat at this 
time? " There were no fortifications upon 
which they could fall back, and the only de- 
fences in the rear were the breastworks 
thrown up by the men in the trenches. 

They had fought their way from Siboney, 

229 



230 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

commencinii;" with the hattle of the Rough 
Riders and ending with the taking (^f the 
heights of San Jtian. The base of stipphes 
was in no peril of captitre; there was no dan- 
ger of being cut off by tlie enemy; there was 
absohitely nothing to warrant a retreat; and 
would it not have l)een a case of " rattles," 
ignorance, and cowardice jumbled together 
to ha\-e ordered a retreat? Those officers 
who had looked the matter over could see no 
ad\'antage to be obtained by falling back, 
ddiey had gained a fortihed position, and 
there was no ground for fear that they cotild 
be dri\en back from this position, for they al- 
ready had repulsed a sexere attack. General 
Shafter had been told, it is said, that the ene- 
m}- was ])resent with a much larger force than 
he had at his conunand; he w;is told that they 
had supplies and amnumition in abundance. 
Hence his desire to fall back. Xow, had this 
information been receixcd b\- a soldier of the 
ability oi (leneral Miles, a man whose phy- 
si(|ue does not burden him in warm weather, 
he would doubtless ha\'e recoimoitred for 
himself. lie would then ha\o taken the \iew 
that as his men had gaineil the position 



SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 



231 



as^ainst the most stubborn resistance of the 
enemy's forces, they could doubtless with- 
stand any attack upon the fortified place they 
were then occupying. 

General Shafte-r was looking for help from 
the fleet under Admiral Sampson, but at this 
time the ships were powerless to aid. They 
could not assist General Shafter and the land 
forces, for had they used their great guns in 
shelling the Spanish position they would have 
placed in great danger from their fire the 
United States Army forces in the trenches 
before Santiago. Possibly, if some of the 
siege guns and field artillery furnished 
to Shafter and transported to Cuba in 
the steamers which carried the troops had 
been landed at Siboney, instead of being 
stupidly carted back to the United States, it 
might have put a different aspect on affairs. 
Had General Shafter gone among the men 
from regiment to regiment, and brigade to 
brigade, and ascertained their spirit, he pos- 
sibly would not have contemplated falling 
back. I say that it was very fortunate that 
General Miles arrived when he did. General 
Miles, with his experience and skill, saw at a 



232 



CAXXOX AND CAMERA. 



glance the false jiosition in w liicli ( icneral 
Shafler wonld place the American armv by 
orderint;- a retreat. General Miles made n]) 
his mind that no retreat should take place, let 
the consecpiences l^e what they mio;ht. Un- 
der a flag of truce a connnunication was made 
with General Toral, asking for an audience. 
The granting of the audience was another 
point gained ])y General Miles. He decided 
to '* work a bluft' " on the Si)aniar(ls. and 
therel)}' gain a \-ictory without loss of life. 
\\'hen General Miles told (ieneral Toral of 
his wishes, the magnitude of the demands 
seemed to ])aralyze him. General Miles in- 
formed the Spanish general that he was then 
landing at our l)ase of supplies a large armv 
of re-enforcements, with which he could anni- 
hilate any and all forces that could be oi)posed 
to them by Spain. The trans]:)orts arrived at 
the same time with (ieneral Miles, and they 
were now Ixing between Santiago and Sibo- 
ney. They were in ])lain sight of the signal 
tower on Morro Gastle. This arrival and 
show of force had been signalled and made 
known from Morro to the arm\- of Sjjain, 
and it was known brt)adcast that we were 



SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 233 

making a big demonstration. When General 
Toral told General Miles that he was willing to 
surrender but had not the power to do so from 
Madrid, General Miles told him that there 
was no time to waste, and that he had no 
intention of waiting for communications from 
Madrid; that our forces were then in posi- 
tion to demand an unconditional surrender. 
General Toral murmured against the terms 
and General ^liles said: " Do you realize this 
is a war undertaken by my Government in the 
interests of humanity suffering at the hands 
of Spain? Do you realize the country with 
which you are at war — its vastness and re- 
sources? Do you realize that for you to con- 
tinue this unequal fight would be brutal — you 
would be making men face certain defeat and 
death? Do you realize that history would 
record your refusal to surrender under the 
circumstances as a crime against your com- 
mand? If you had a chance such as is pre- 
sented in an equal combat I would be the last 
to urge you to surrender. I would say. 
' Fight, and fight to the last.' Surrender 
would never come up as a thought in my 
mind if the forces were equal. But look at 



234 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



what we have done. We ha\e landed here 
in }uur C(.>untr_\'. and in llic face of yonr op- 
positi(jn and the chmatic difficulties we have 
routed }ou from }our \ery strongest posi- 
tion; and if we could rout you from this 
position you can scarcely drive us l)ack. W'e 
are now in a position to demand your ab- 
solute and unconditional surrender. There- 
fore, if you do not surrender we shall force 
you to do so. But it is my duty, being in 
charge of this in\ading armw to end the 
fight as humanely as possible, Init to end 
it." 

After General Miles had made himself 
fullv understood. General Toral considered 
the matter and did the best thing possible 
under the circumstances. He surrendered 
on July 17th. Mark you, J do not say it was 
the best thing for General Toral. for when our 
troops entered Santiago, when the surrender 
was made ])()siti\e. it was seen that the Span- 
ish forces were plentifully furnished with am- 
munition and supplies, and it is my opinion 
that they could have held out nmch longer. 
I'.ul it was this man of will, this man of force, 
this man who went and saw and coiupiered — 



SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 235 

the man to have in command in time of war. 
This man was General Miles, whom the 
United States can thank this time and hence- 
forth for the short and sweet campaign neces- 
sary to take Cuba. 



chapti-:r wii. 

RETl'RX OF Till': ROUOll KIDKRS. 

General Wheeler and Colonel Roosevelt welcomed at Camp 
Wikoff — Suffering of troops at Montauk Point — Home 
coming of the Seventy-first — Contrast between naval mi- 
litia and volunteers. 

The selection of Muntaiik Point as a 
camp site for the soldiers retnrniiis;- from San- 
tia^'o was supposed to be an ideal one. At 
first it was thought that the troops who had 
gained Santiago would l)e sent into the 
mountains of Cuba to recuperate and then 
be transported to Porto Pico, btU it was de- 
cided at the last moment, through a forceful 
letter from Colonel 'idieodore Roosevelt, to 
send them north. C"olonel Roosevelt ])osi- 
tively stated in his comnumication thai it 
the troops were not al once shipped from the 
fever-stricken tlistrict of Santiago and the 
surrounding country to some heallh\' and 

sanilar\- camp I hey wt)uld die olt like 
236 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 237 

sheep. Although these men were sent away 
ahiiost immediately after the statement of 
Colonel Roosevelt, yet the events recorded 
after their arrival at Alontauk Point — the 
deaths from illness and starvation — show 
clearly and in as strong a light as possible 
that wisdom and practical sense of uncom- 
monly high order are attributes which Col- 
onel Roosevelt possesses in company with his 
other better known qualities. Our men died 
like sheep afflicted with a plague. But if this 
fate befell them in the comparatively whole- 
some surroundings of Camp Wikofif, what 
unspeakable horrors might not history have 
had to record had the army been suffered to 
remain in the pest-laden camps of Santiago 
de Cuba! 

Here is an instance of the general incom- 
petence displayed which came under my no- 
tice at Camp Wikofif: A transport engaged 
to take troops and stores to Santiago at the 
time the army of invasion was lying at Key 
West brought back troops to Montauk Point. 
The story goes that the captain of the vessel 
sent word to the department from which his 
order came that he had something- in the 



238 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



hold of the shij) for dehxcry scjiiiewhere, but 
the exact spot he chd not know. On investi- 
gation it was found that some held artillery 
had been stowed all the time in the hold of 
this ship. By rights it should have been 
landed at Siboney, but it was carried back 
to the United States in this vessel without 
being touched. This is but one example of 
the slipshod manner in which everybody's 
business j)roved to be nobody's business. 

After dumping our troops into these 
" prison hulks " and pest holes, of which so 
much has been written and said that there ex- 
ists no need for me to add more, they arri\ed 
in course of time and debarked in an ema- 
ciated and debilitated condition at Camp 
Wikoff. After all the opportunity for gain- 
ing experience that the heads of the different 
departments at Washington had had, one 
would conclude that Camp Wikoff at ]Mon- 
tauk Point would ha\e been a splciidiiUy 
equipped and organized camp for the return 
of our troops from Cuba. The contrary was 
the case. 

When the sick and wounded reached 
Camp Wikoff the hospital tcnls were unlni- 




k/ 



(iLTicral Wlicck-r and Gciicrul Young al Camp Wikoff. 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 239 

ished, and even tents of the ordinary type 
were not there in snfficient number to give 
these men good and necessary sheher from 
the weather. Still the boys were glad to be 
on Uncle Sam's soil again, and right well did 
they enjoy it. Those who were able to make 
it known did so, and those too weak to make 
any demonstration showed in their pallid and 
suffering faces their delight to get back home 
once more. 

In marked and pleasing contrast to the 
enfeebled and emaciated troops landed from 
the pestiferous transports at Montauk Point 
was the condition presented by the three hun- 
dred men of the Naval Militia of New^ York 
and Brooklyn as they marched u]) Broadway 
on September 3d. These men had been in 
service since April 24th, when they embarked 
on the Yankee (formerly the Morgan liner El 
Norte), participating in the bombardment of 
Santiago and the seizure of Guantanamo Bay. 
On June 13th the Yankee chased and sunk 
the Spanish gunboat Diego Velasco, and 
later on did excellent duty, winning honour in 
nine separate engagements in Cuban waters. 
The Yankee was chosen to take part in Com- 



240 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



modore Watson's proposed expedition to 
Spain, and her brave sailors were much disap- 
pointed when the peace negotiations rendered 
that demonstration unnecessary. The Yan- 
kee returned to New York on August 28th 
with a clean bill of health. 

The sailors, as they marched through the 
city on a broiling afternoon, looked in the 
pink of condition, healthy and hard as nails. 
Heads erect, eyes bright, faces tanned, ex- 
pressions animated, every movement full of 
vitality, they did credit to the navy they 
served 

The poor soldiers presented another and 
sadder phase of the campaign, utterly dis- 
creditable to the military authorities respon- 
sible, of which the Se\enty-first was perhaps 
the most pitiable and forcible example. 

Probably the return of the Rough Riders 
was the event which excited more popular in- 
terest than the return of any other single regi- 
ment. Part of the First Cavalry which had 
been left behind at Tampa had already ar- 
rived at Camp Wikoff and had selected a 
camp in a l)eautiful location. I say a beauti- 
ful location because it was on a high hill sur- 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 



241 



rounded by a nice little pond where there was 
a chance for the men to take a bath and oth- 
erwise have access to ocean breezes and 
other health-producing conditions. Camp 
\\'ikoft' is not an ideal camp, for an ideal camp 
would have possessed some large shade trees. 
If a man wanted shade at Camp \\'ikoff he 
had to remain under the folds of his tent, for 
once outside he was in the rays of a sim as 
intense as those he met at Santiago. 

On the morning of the arrival of the trans- 
port Miami at ]\lontauk Point things were 
in a state of intense excitement. Colonel 
Roosevelt and his men were/ on board, as were 
also General Wheeler and part of his stafif, so 
that the landing of this boat and its comple- 
ment of troops was quite an interesting scene. 
The Miami came alongside the dock about 
1 1 o'clock. Colonel Edwards had charge of 
the dock, and he formed around it and the 
shore a heavy guard of the regular coloured 
troops. It was impossible to induce these 
troops to permit me to gain admittance to a 
much coveted position on the dock. A 
freight train, however, had backed up into po- 
sition near the landing place, so I hastily made 



242 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

for the lo]) of a freis^iit car and secured a good 
position, from which I took pictures of the 
troops as they came ashore. A large crowd of 
friends of the Rough Riders and soldiers had 
gathered at the dock, some coming in by the 
morning train, as the reports in the morning 
j)apers had made known that they were ex- 
l^ected to arrive at this time. 

Among the very first to land from the Mi- 
ami after she had made fast were General 
Wheeler and Colonel Roosevelt. General 
Wheeler was greeted with ])rotherlv affection 
by General Young, while Colonel Roosevelt 
was met by his brother-in-law, and thev 
hugged each other like schoolb(\vs. Everv 
one pressed forward, and it looked as though 
the line of soldiers would l)e Ijroken bv the 
surging crowd. Soon Mrs. John A. Logan, 
the widow of " Old Black Jack," was seen 
making her way through the lines, and with 
the permission of the general in charge met 
General Wheeler and Colonel Roosevelt, and 
congratulations were extended to both by this 
venerable lady. As General Wheeler ap- 
proached, some one in the crowd yelled, 
" Three cheers for General Wheeler and San 



I 




u 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 243 

Juan!" This was taken up and the three 
cheers were given lustily. The general 
doffed his little white helmet in due apprecia- 
tion of the courtesy. The troops as they 
marched off the transport seemed very weary 
and careworn from the hardships undergone. 
The ranks of some of the companies were sor- 
rowfully depleted and showed the sad havoc 
of the fever, exposure, the Mauser bullets, and 
the terrible warfare they had passed through. 
Some of the worst ailing, who were not able 
to make the landing unaided, were assisted by 
their comrades, and many a sorrowful sight 
met the eyes of the bystanders, who wanted to 
go in and take on their shoulders these help- 
less heroes who so well deserved it, but the 
guard line was too strong to permit of any 
such breach of discipline. Although there 
was no fever on l^oard the troops were 
marched off to the detention camp for the 
time being. 

When the men arrived in camp I went in 
and around and visited a great many of my 
old friends whom I had known for years. I 
first came upon " Yale " Greenway, the man 
who had been so prominent in Yale athletics 



244 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



for years, lie had Ijeen the mainstay of the 
baseball and football teams — in fact, he had 
been a leader in all branches of athletics in 
his college. He also distinguished himself 
with the Rough Riders in Cuba, and he 
looked as healthy as though he had never ex- 
})erience(l a hardship. His athletic training 
and his physical condition induced by his ath- 
letic exercises carried him safely throtigh 
this trying ordeal. Lieutenant \\'oodl)ury 
Kane was also there, and welcomed me with 
a glad smile. While he was writing a tele- 
gram to some of his friends to a])prise them 
of his safe return I took a shot at him, and I 
am now the proud possessor of the nega- 
tive. 

Among the others I saw and who had re- 
turned with honours were Craig Wadsworth, 
the Knobloch l)rothcrs. Bull, of Harvard, also 
those sterling athletes Larned and W'renn. 
It was a treat to see these m^n anxiously grab 
the loaves and fishes that were dished out for 
their first meal. They were at home again, 
and glad of it. They made nuich of this first 
afternoon. Camp was l)eing put into condi- 
tion, and many hampers and packages of deli- 




u 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 



245 



cacies were received by these the most popu- 
lar troops of the army for the invasion of 
Cuba. 

Many and varied were the wants of these 
brave fellows. The most urgent need was to 
fill out various aching cavities about the waist 
line; next was the anxiety to inform their 
friends and relatives of their safe arrival and 
the condition of health which the close of the 
campaign found them in. The telegraph 
companies had instituted no regular service 
at this point sufficient to the needs and re- 
quirements of tlie place, as they should have 
done. The regular telegraph station was 
several miles away from the detention camp; 
therefore, when I made known my willing- 
ness to take any telegrams for delivery that 
they desired to send I w'as surrounded by a 
lot of anxious soldiers. They came from 
every troop. The first I had occasion to be 
of service to was Lieutenant Woodbury 
Kane. As soon as he had written his tele- 
gram, " Yale " Greenway got in his little 
work, and so it kept on for an hour or so. 

The sentiments expressed were as varied 

and characteristic as the troops themselves, 
29 



246 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

aii-1 tliev went in all directions over the 
Ignited States — some to the iiiansioiis of the 
rich at Xewport, others to the prairie home 
of the cowboy. One of the most original of 
these telegrams I will quote, omitting, of 
course, the sender's name, in order to show 
how a gallant Rough Rider telegraphed his 
sentiments to his sweetheart. It was as fol- 
lows: " Darling Kate: Stopped no bullets; 
caught no fe\er. Jim." 

One of the Rough Riders who would have 
been as anxious as any of the others to send 
a message to his home folks was the late la- 
mented Rough Rider Sergeant William Tif- 
fany. After the battle of San Juan he was 
detailed to j^roceed to Siboney to ])itrchase a 
few luxuries for his troojx It was my ])leas- 
ure on my way in from Playa to overtake this 
gallant Rough Rider, and we came along the 
last ])art of the journey together. He wanted 
to know where he could obtain something in 
the way of refreshmeiits, and I told him that 
I should be pleased to take him to our head- 
quarters and let him share what we had there, 
lie was overjoyed at the pr()S])ect of once 
more sitting- with his leo's under a table, and 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 



H7 



as he sat down to the bacon, eggs, and fried 
potatoes which comprised our meal that 
night he remarked on the strangeness he felt 
in once more handling a knife and fork. 
Porridge never tasted so good to him before, 
and bacon and eggs never so palatable; his 
appreciation of this meal was greater, he said, 
than any he had ever had. This was because 
he was hungry. After apologizing for call- 
ing for a second plate, he said that on his re- 
turn to Xew York he should be pleased to 
reciprocate by playing host for the crowd at 
any restaurant we chose to name. 

He was then anxious to i:)urchase some 
tobacco, cigarettes or cigars, or whatever 
could be obtained in this line. After scout- 
ing around the camp and the many different 
places where we were likely to get such 
things, I obtained a small quantity, for which 
he was very thankful. Brummell, who was 
the boy of all work around the Journal head- 
quarters, made himself quite handy and of 
service to Sergeant Tift'any at this time. He 
helped him to get a few of the necessaries he 
was in search of, and after feeing this boy with 
a tip that would make the head of a Delmoni- 



248 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

CO waiter swim with dizziness, Sergeant Tif- 
fany returned to his troojj with a better feel- 
ing at his heart. This occurred on July 8th, 
and after enjoying the repast which to him at 
that time was a sumptuous meal, he strolled 
out from the Journal headcjuartcrs. I oti'ered 
him a cigar, which he accepted with the 
thanks of a gentleman. It seemed to me at 
the time that he had suffered much from the 
rigours of this campaign, for he was not the 
same man 1 had seen about fashionable re- 
sorts in New York. His face seemed pinched 
and drawn, and it had that sallow appearance 
which IS the forerunner of fever in this cli- 
mate. His step was not sprightly and 
springy as of yore, but he was in fair spirits 
and was thankful for any courtesies. 

The treatment of the men of the Seventy- 
first Regiment Xew York \"olunteers on 
their return from Cuba was not the same 
as that which they experienced when they 
first occupied their little tents at Camp lilack 
before the war commenced. It was now 
(juite a dilYerent life. Many (^f those who had 
been exultant in their anxiety to carr\- a rille 
and to revenue themselxes for the dastardlv 



i 









I 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 249 

deed which had been perpetrated on our brave 
and gallant sailors who went down with the 
Maine, were now helpless and unable to show 
any signs of that spirit with which they were 
imbued when they sailed for Cuba. They re- 
turned to find that liberty was not theirs; to 
find themselves in a position scarcely toler- 
able to men who had done so gallantly for 
their country. ^lany a man returned to the 
States without his "bunkie"; many of the 
companies returned with ranks depleted to 
such an extent that they formed but the skele- 
tons of companies and regiments. This de- 
I)letion was not caused by our real enemies, 
the Spanish forces in Cuija, but by army 
contractors, political thievery and incompe- 
tence on the part of those having the medical 
and commissary departments in their care. 
Not to the Mauser bullets, not to the shriek- 
ing shrapnel from the enemies" batteries, but 
to starvation which brought on sickness, not 
to say the neglect and willful cruelty where 
incompetence was not the only fault of the 
medical ofticers. Even had the provisions 
been rushed to the front by the commissary 
branches of the corps then in Cuba, what phy- 



2 50 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

sician — nay. what schoolboy of fifteen years — 
does not know that fihhy greasy pork which 
has been salted down for so many years that 
the stench escaping when the barrels are 
opened is sufficient to act as a strong emetic 
on the average individual's stomach, is not 
onlv not proper food in the tropics, but is ab- 
solutely poisonous under such circumstances? 
The crime perpetrated on the American vol- 
unteers by a tribe of military contractors who 
received from the Administration awards of 
large contracts should be avenged. The 
conduct of the so-called physicians and sur- 
geons who have but a kitchen interest in 
their art and profession will react, I fear, 
in future responses for volunteers. Let us 
hope not. 

The men l)rought to Camp WikotY re- 
ceived none of the attention and care which 
they would have received had they been per- 
mitted to join their families and be under the 
affection, love, and nursing of mothers, 
brothers, fathers, sisters, and friends, instead 
of being left to the mercy and ])()llution of 
the vultures who would have made less money 
had tliev been mustered out promptly or 







1-V„, _ „ .^*.^!.:fe»3si^^„ 



I 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 



251 



given sixty or even thirty days' furlough, dur- 
ing which time the men \voul<l have received 
a money equivalent for their rations, and the 
poor contractors would have been deprived 
of this golden opportunity of making an 
" honest dollar." 

The wounded and sick were rushed into 
tents and improvised hospitals, where they 
were under the care of the regimental sur- 
geons, instead of wives, and mothers, and sis- 
ters, and their food was hard-tack and putrid 
pork — until the bounty of private charity 
came to their aid. It was then that the Ad- 
ministration papers took the opportunity of 
trying to show that the Government was fa- 
vouring the soldiers with kind treatment, 
when it was the kind-hearted American men 
and w^omen who happened to visit the camp 
for the purpose of aiding, be it ever so little. 
Many cases of individual suffering have 
reached the ears of the American public, but 
many more are recitals of the trials and suffer- 
ings of those who were crushed under them 
and are now unable to speak since death 
robbed them of an opportunity to tell their 
woes. 



252 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

After the press had come to the aid of the 
soldiers it was deemed advisaljle bv the au- 
thorities to muster the men out at this i)oint. 
This was made known in and about the camp 
for some days previous to their departure. 
Preparations were made to convey the Sev- 
enty-first Xew York Regiment down to the 
Battery, New York, from which point they 
were to march up Broadway to their armory, 
there to be dispersed and permitted to go to 
their homes, where they were sought. Their 
arrival at Long Island City upon the oc- 
casion of their trip to Xew York city for 
mustering out was in marked contrast to their 
departure from this place for the front. When 
they arrived at this terminus, the l)oat was in 
readiness. There was no twenty-two hours' 
wait in a railroad yard, amid the noise and 
dirt of the engines and under the direct ravs 
of the sun. The boat, I say, was there, but 
the meal was provided not by a thankful na- 
tion through its ( iovernment, Init by the 
spontaneous muniticence of ])rivate charity. 
Think of it, heroes! Charity is your re- 
ward! Charity the return lo _\'()u for Nour 
free offering of life and your rclin(|uish- 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 253 

ment of all the comforts and advantages en- 
joyed by you in your social sphere in civil 
life. When they arrived at Long Island City 
the soldiers were met by some of the brave 
veterans of the civil war. Glad hands were 
extended and grasped on all sides. Al others, 
sisters, brothers, fathers, and friends from all 
quarters were there to welcome the men. 

The trip on the ferryboat Flushing from 
the landing at the Long Island depot to the 
Battery was as triumphal a sail along the 
East River as has been witnessed in the past 
decade. The pilots on the river, from those 
having charge of a saucy little tug to those 
piloting the large Fall River steamers, knew 
the character of the " freight " on board this 
ferryl^oat, and they showed their feelings by 
continuous tooting of whistles. They knew 
what these men had suffered and performed, 
and they acknowledged the claim on their 
gfratitude. Salutes were given to this craft 
on all sides. The river shores were lined, 
and cheer after cheer, veritable volleys of 
joyful sound, went ringing out from both 
shores of the river. 

Arrived at the Battery, they found such a 
30 



254 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



throng as can gather in Xew \'()rk city only. 
No other people would have tolerated the 
banging, pushing, and shoving which this cos- 
mopolitan crowd withstood in this city on 
this occasion. They had waited hour after 
hour on the streets to welcome these men, and 
a right good welcome they gave the soldiers. 
The veterans who stayed at home were gath- 
ered at the Battery and drawn up in double 
line. Cars were provided to transport the 
men along the streets, so as not to tire them 
bv a long walk from the Battery to W'averley 
Place: ambulances were filled with the sick 
and wounded and those unable to march in 
the ranks, in order that these men might re- 
ceive the same reccj^tion as was accorded to 
their fellow-soldiers who had been more for- 
tunate in the matter of wounds and illness 
than they had. 

As thcv ])roceeded u]) Broadway there 
was a great disi)lay of bunting froiu every 
business house. Men. women, and children 
waved the Stars and Stripes with tender feel- 
ing for these men, coupled with pride in them. 
wliicli was fnll\' warranted and justified. 
Thev marche<l up r)roadway to W'averley 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 255 

Place, then to Fifth Avenue, then to the 
armory of the regiment. This trip, with the 
exception of the charge up San Juan hill, was 
possi])l_v the protidest moment in Colonel 
Downs's life. It was manifestly a reception 
most hearty and generous, a reception that a 
hero alone is worthy of. His presence in the 
front of the regiment, followed by the regi- 
mental chaplain looking little the worse for 
wear, in deep contrast to his colonel, was 
loudly cheered. The greeting encouraged 
him so that he looked readv and fit to go 
through another such campaign. Let the 
critics and those who ])en the history of this 
campaign say what they may; let them talk 
as they like; let their opinions be put in black 
and white, it still remains a fact that the rank 
and file of the Seventy-first Regiment, New 
York \'olunteers, for whom I can speak per- 
sonally, were as brave a lot of fellows as ever 
shouldered a rifie. These men returned to 
their armory in a sorry condition. Many 
were social lights and many such had died 
fighting for their country, and had gone to 
meet the Great Conmiander. It is a most 
significant fact that while these men had 



256 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

sliowii such fortiliulc and ^allantr}- under 
the liar(lshi])s whicli they enchn^ed during 
their last (hiys at Santiago, the percentage 
of the sick was enormous. Mad this cam- 
paign at Santiago been conducted in a sol- 
dierl\- manner the^e men would not have 
l)een ])ermitted to lie so long in those pits 
of disease, the trenches. Something certain- 
ly could have been done to alleviate the suf- 
ferings, hardships, and inconveniences, to 
which not only the men of the Seventy-first 
Regiment were sul)iected, hut the entire 
Fifth Army C'orjis. 

The following letter from my friend the 
late luigene Cjoff is worthy of record. It tells 
in a plain lunarnished way of the sufferings 
of the Seventv-ilrst. It was written with no 
view to ])ul)licati()n. and to one who reads 
between the lines it means a good deal. 

" In niK Field .m:.\r Santi.\(;o dk Cub.\, 
" August 4, iSgS. 
" Friend Sam: 1 wrote \ou a letter some 
time ago. about the 9th or loth of July, 1 
think, antf ha\e received no answer as yet. 
Still, as I know the mails are \ery uncertain. I 
surmise \(iu miuiu not ha\e recei\ed it. 



RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 257 

" My primary motive in writing- this is to 
inform you of the sad death of poor Billy 
Cheevers. He died on August ist, at abotit 
9.30 p. M., after an illness lasting off and on 
about twenty-two days. The disease was 
fever. He makes the third one in the regi- 
ment to go within the last week. 

Billy was brave and merry right up to 
the last, so much so that we all thought he 
would pull through. Gaffney was the man 
on watch with him at the last, and Billy's mind 
was on military matters almost entirely. He 
imagined he was going through the battle 
again, and furthermore, for some unaccount- 
able reason, thought he was in the old 
Twenty-second. 

" I tell you, Sam, we have put in a terrible 
cam|)aign since the ist. 2n(l, and 3rd of July. 
I doubt if there is a man in the outfit who 
would not rather go through the din and roar 
of actual battle than undergo again the hard- 
ships of the last month. 

" At least fifty per cent of the regiment 
have been down with the fever, some with 
mild attacks, others with severe. It was my 
fortune to get it quite severely. It com- 



238 CANXUX AND CAMERA. 

mciiced on the i^tli of last month, and I have 
not fully recoxered yet — in fact, don't expect 
to until 1 reach the Xorlh (if 1 ever do). For 
three alternate days I lay grovelling on the 
ground hour after hour, just j^raying^ God to 
let nie die. My feelings were something ter- 
rible. It was as if 1 were put in a crematc^ry 
while alive and the heat turned on. in conjunc- 
tion with which my head was s])litting o])en, 
and it appeared as if ni)' spine had been 
broken. 1 tell yoti it was terrible. 

" We are all eagerly awaiting orders to 
move awa}- from here, and expect to go inside 
of another week. 1 tell you. we are all 
pretty well broken up around here. It is 
only recently that we have been able to get 
anything to eat except the regulation hard- 
tack, pork, and cofifec. 

" I realize now that if I had stayed with 
the old organization my lines would ha\'e 
been more ])leasant, but personally 1 do not 
regret the step as }et, except in so far as it 
])erhaps led to Billy's death, lie was hardly 
in a physical condition to withstand the hard- 
shi])s ;ni(l xicissitudes of this campaign. He 
was \'ery sick at Lakeland. Ma., but ap- 




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RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 



259 



parently recovered. Poor Bill! He is 
buried right in front of the American en- 
trenchments on the slope of the hill facing 
Santiago. Right back of him are the inden- 
tations made by Captain Capron's battery. 
We acted as their support during the last 
bombardment. 

" Billy proved himself a brave and fearless 
soldier all the way through. He was acting 
corporal on July ist, and brought his squad 
up on the hill together. He was right with 
me when we arrived on the extreme top, and 
if I hadn't jumped in front of him at the last 
moment would have been the first man in the 
regiment to reach the blockhouse. We 
were right together throughout, and I really 
think that he, Chalfin (an old regular-army 
man), and myself fired more deliberate shots 
at actual moving Spaniards than all the rest 
of the Seventy-first Regiment put together. 
I don't say all this boastfully, but to try and 
give you some idea of Billy's sterling quali- 
ties. 

" Decker, of our company, was killed right 
alongside of Billy, but he was so intent on his 
work that he hardlv knew it. It is all too 



26o CANNON AND CAMERA. 

had. i can hardly realize it as yet. Well, 1 
trust to get North and see you some day. 
" Good-hye. 

" From Gene Goff." 

But to come hack to Canij) W'ikoff: Its 
unsanitar}- condition soon hegan to foster 
fever, and the neglect of the soldiers in the 
hospitals, where they were literally starving — 
for they could not eat the coarse fare pro- 
vided — raised a storm of indignation through- 
out the country. Some of the most outra- 
geous evils were rectified, hut Camp W'ikoff, 
which was evacuated 1)\ all the Nolnnteer 
regiments hy September _'4tli, ])ro\ed the 
deathplace of hundreds of hraxe men who 
might have been alive to-day had proper care 
been given them. 

And now my task is hnished. My en- 
deavour has been to describe scenes in the 
war which I myself witnessed. 1 ha\e not 
attem])ted to give a histor\- of the campaign, 
but have simply dealt with na\ al and military 
events which came within m\- own personal 
obscr\-ation. I lia\e felt it ni\- dut\- at times 
to criticise quite freely the gross mismanage- 



I 




RETURN OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 261 

meat which characterized the war from be- 
ginning to end, bnt in no case have I l)lamed 
withont cause. It is hard to lose dear friends 
by the bullets of the enemy, but it is far hard- 
er to realize that hundreds perished in our 
own camps and transports of starvation and 
disease, caused by the criminal negligence 
and incompetence of those in charge. 

Where is there an American who can read 
without righteous indignation the report of 
General Sir Herbert Kitchener, the victor of 
the campaign in the Soudan just brought to 
a triumphal close? The sirdar writes in cor- 
dial commendation of the commissarv, medi- 
cal, and transport departments and the " ex- 
cellent rations which were always provided 
and kept the men strong, healthy, and fit to 
endure all the hardships of an arduous cam- 
paign, enabling them at a critical moment 
to support exceptional fatigue, continuous 
marching, and fighting for fourteen hours 
during the height of a Soudan summer.'' 

What a shameful contrast is presented by 
the ])itiable results of our own campaign! 



31 



APPENDIX 



Hints to Amateur and Professional Photographers. 

To the professional and amateur photog- 
rapher I wish to say a few words in concluding 
my narrative of the events I witnessed in the 
war between the United States and Spain. I 
wish to say something that every photographer 
may derive benefit from. My experience in this 
campaign has been quite varied and interesting 
from the view point of the photographer. It 
was mv first experience of this character, but I 
trust it will not be my last. Practical experi- 
ence, as all know, is one of the best teachers, 
and it is something which a man can not ac- 
quire from books. Not only does it give the 
method, but it also gives the skill and efficiency. 
I do not mean to state that the few suggestions 
I am about to give will make a photographer of 
one unskilled in the art. A photographer must 

necessarily experience these things in order to 

263 



264 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



bccijinc proficient; l)Ul 1 do want tu impart to 
my fellow-workers some hints which may pos- 
sihlv help them sIkjuM the_\- undertake anything 
of this kind. There are man\- older heads in 
the profession than mine, and those who have 
rendered greater service to the art than I have ; 
but, as the old saying goes, there is something 
to be learned from every fool and every child, 
so possibly there may be something learned 
from me. 

1 wish to state that, while it is necessary to 
have good lenses, good cameras, good plates, 
and, in fact, everything good in the line of tools 
and imi)lements incidental to the proper practice 
of the profession, still there must be something 
more than this. The camera is like the gun of 
tlie war slii]) : while the gun c 11 d) the deadly- 
execution, while slujt and shell are brought to a 
state of ])erfection by our skilled artisans, the 
man unist be behind the gmi. So it is with the 
camera. 1 do not wish to give the impression 
that I am iJic only ])hotogra])her: my desire is 
sim])l\- to state that 1 consider myself fortunate 
in being one of the few ])hotograi)hers who have 
had the privilege and opportunity to re])ro(luce 
the stirring and spk'udid pictures of this exciting 



APPENDIX. 265 

time and its incidents which I am proud to have 
been a spectator of. I shall recall these scenes 
in future and associate them with all ideas of 
the life and dash in a man's composition — scenes 
which have called a man to his senses in more 
than one instance. 

To go through a war and depict the scenes 
with which one momentarily comes in contact 
is to do something for which I can hardly find a 
fitting comparison. The life there depicted is 
full of trials and tortures, experiences which 
would almost rend a man's heart asunder. A 
man Ijecomes callous after witnessing the 
wonderful exhibitions of exalted courage and 
action which mortal man can endure in mo- 
ments of martial inspiration. NTo man can go 
on a field of battle and witness such things with- 
out becoming callous. I do not mean to say 
that a man loses all his sympathy, but he tem- 
porarily parts with his nicer feelings in the ter- 
rible realities that he passes through. 

As I have said, it is absolutely necessary to 
have good tools with which to do one's work. 
When you have these, then you can go ahead 
with might and will. Tn the first place, the 
kind of climate one finds in Cuba is not at all 



266 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

favourahlc to the photo.ij^raijluT in the prosecu- 
tion of his caUinij. While 1 a(hnit tlie Hi^ht is 
ahiiost ])erfect. yet there are drawljacks almost 
impossible to overcome. In the earl\- morning 
there is a (lam])ness in the atmosphere, which is 
apt to make your jilates or films, whichever you 
use, useless, and sometimes to render them ab- 
solutely worthless. The greatest care nuist be 
taken to protect your i)lates and films from this 
damp atmosj^here. While I should not advise 
everv one to do as I have done (because I have 
since seen where my experience taught me some- 
thing by which I could in future profit), I would 
say that the future photographing of war scenes 
will be done with cameras (|uite difTerent from 
those I used in this campaign. T have already 
laid m\- ])lans and ordered new cameras in an- 
tici]:)ation of what history may l)ring forth. 

All through this war T carried glass plates in 
large c|uantities, and in travelling from i)lace to 
])lace 1 found them a very heavy l)urden. They 
could not be stowed away in small places or with 
the convenience of films, therefore I should ad- 
vise that films be used wherever a long journey 
is ex])ecte(l. No doul)t glass plates have some 
advantages in their genuine lasting (jualities 



APPENDIX. 267 

which the fihiis do not possess. The support 
of the fihii — the ceUuloid — has something very 
defective in its composition which has not up to 
this time been eradicated, and it afTects the sen- 
sitiveness of the fihii, but this, I hope, chem- 
ical experts may control or entirely overcome, 
in the near future. 

To the professional photographer who goes 
to the front to depict anything and everything 
that may occur I would give the advice to use as 
small a camera as possible to render his pic- 
ture properly discernible. To go more minutely 
into details, I would advise the use of a rapid- 
working lens, no matter whose make it may be. 
as long as it has that necessary and requisite 
property of dealing with a large, plain field, good 
depth of focus, and plenty of brilliancy. A lens 
that is not exactly a landscape lens, but one be- 
tween the two. a lens more on the portrait style, 
seems to be more adaptable, as it works with a 
larger aperture, and is applicable to all kinds of 
work, and we know that portraits and figures 
are the most important parts in photographing 
such a subject as I have here before me. 

A camera not larger than five by seven is 
the most convenient to use. If it is adapted for 



268 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

films as well as plates so much the better. A 
camera C(jnverti])le, tu use with either lihiis or 
plates, in my opinion is the ideal camera. If 
you are j^oinj^ on a short journey I say take 
plates and use them, iov the results i;ained will 
repay you for the extra labour ycju may perform 
in carryini^" them with y<ni. if vou are going on 
a long journey, not knowing when you ma}' 
return, not knowing where you may go, I should 
say the daylight film is the most convenient and 
the most popular of the i)resent-day creations. 
It is sometimes necessary in going on extended 
trips to take a developer along, with which you 
can test your film and know what you are work- 
ing at ; therefore 1 should advise taking along 
a developer made up in j)owder form, by which 
you can make a test of each film as you progress. 
There is always some ])lace w here this work can 
be done. 

There may be such a word as " can't." but 1 
shall never use it if 1 can ])ossibl\- help. The 
old saying, that where there is a will there is a 
way, came to me with vivid force during this 
campaign. The pictures made nowadays do not 
convey to the reader the same romantic s])ecta- 
cle that one is accustomed to seek and find in 



APPENDIX. 



269 



past war pictures, for the use of smokeless pow- 
der has taken away the effect of clouds of dense 
smoke, through portions of which were to be 
seen, dimly outlined, the opposing forces and 
all the attendant incidents. I imagine that if a 
shutter can be made fast enough to take the bul- 
lets as they whiz through the air, then war scenes 
mav again become very vivid, picturesqtte, and 
romantic. lUit can we ever expect this? 
Think, you photographers. Just think for a 
moment. Think of the rate at which these little 
missives of death can travel. This is. of course, 
but a dream, as we know it will never happen, 
but we know there must be something that will 
give that vividness and reality which the ab- 
sence of smoke now deprives. I found that 
while I was exposed to the dangers of the bul- 
lets and the breaking of shells around me my 
work kept me preocctipied ; that I reallv forgot 
in a great many instances that I was on the 
field of battle. 

It has been said of the gallant men who fight 
on the line that they forget the danger when 
they once commence their work, and I positively 
believe such is the case. A man gets to work, 
and if he is in earnest I reallv think he forgets 



270 CANNON AND CAMERA. 

ever}tliin,<4" around liini and is \vrap]jcd up in 
the results wliicli he has taken sucli chances to 
gain. While every picture a man should take 
under these circumstances mii^ht not he a work 
of art, still it is possible to change position and 
get a variety of pictures. It is one's duty to 
depict that which seems to he the best. There- 
fore a selection of sul)jects will cause you less 
annoyance when you come to develop, and 
find you have no repetitions. If you study your 
pictures you will find that you can ])ortray many 
more scenes and incidents with half as much 
work than if you went into the field without any 
certain plan. 

While I can not say that I long to see an- 
other war, yet I have a craving to go and do 
again what I think T could now do better. 
Should a chance present itself in future for me to 
do what I have done in the past, I think I could 
do myself, and the profession in general, more 
credit than T have hitherto. 

1 lie camera of which T think a great deal 
will be heard in future in i)hotographing battle 
scenes and stirring pictures of troops in action 
will be a camera likened luito the moving-lens 
camera, a camera of which one might sav it 



APPENDIX. 271 

looks behind you. It is a camera which will 
take in a field of from one hundred and fifty to 
one hundred and sixty degrees. These cameras 
will be so made and adapted in time to come 
that they will be used in the hand, as my own 
camera is now, and will portray from one side to 
the other, including-, as I said before, a large 
and extensive angle. I can not go into details, 
as I have not fully developed the idea. This 
will I)e the camera I shall use in the future 
should I ever have the opportunity. 

I trust in these few suggestions that some- 
thing may be found to help my brothers and sis- 
ters — for has not this glorious art been taken 
up bv women with all the enthusiasm and pride 
which they infuse into all their undertakings? 
It is not the professional who does so much 
for the art, or who has done so much in the 
past for photography, for the professional looks 
to but the dollar-and-cents end. It is the ama- 
teur to whom we must look for improvements; 
his aim is to do something which has not yet 
been done, for he has time to do it. Therefore 
we have to thank the amateur for several praise- 
worthy improvements. 

I trust this little work may be of some value 



272 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



to the rccuki" iiitcrcstcd in lliis branch of pho- 
tography, and thai the ilhistrations herein will 
be judged from the conditions under which they 
were made. 

J. C. He.m.ment. 



INDEX 



Adams, W. Lincoln, intioduc- 
tion by. 

Almirante Oquendo, Spanish 
war ship, 210, 218. 

Ambushes of Cuban and 
Spanish pickets, 122. 

Appendix, hints to amateur 
and professional photogra- 
phers, 262 et seq. 

Arkell, W. J., 10. 

Arrolas. General. 29. 

Art under difficulties, gS et 
seq. 

Asarradero, 214. 

Baiquiri, 80. 
Balloon, war, 135, 145. 
Barb-wire fences, 120. 
Barton, Miss Clara, 79. 
Birds, calls of, use 1 as signals 

by Spaniards, 120. 
Blockading squadron 

105. 
Blue, Lieutenant, 218. 
Board of inquiry, 25. 
Bombardment of Morro Cas 

tie, Santiago, 107 et seq. 



70. 



Brooklyn, flagship of Admi- 
ral Schley, 208, 212. 

Brummell, 247. 

Bull, of Harvard, Rough Rid- 
er, 244. 

Bullets, stray, execution by, 
179. 

Bullfights, 27, 2g. 

Cabaiia, 4. 

Cabarellos, 20. 

Camei-a, 62, 65, 200. 

Camp Black, 41-44 ; drills of 
recruits at, 47 ; discipline 
at, 51 ; unsanitary condi- 
tion of, 52. 

Camp Wikoff, Montauk Point, 
237 ; landing of troops at, 
23S ; insufficient shelter for 
sick and wounded at, 239; 
Rough Riders arrive at, 
241 ; arrival of Seventy-first 
at, 250 ; neglect and suffer- 
ing at, 251 ; unsanitary con- 
dition of, 260 ; evacuation 
of, by volunteers, 260. 

Cape de Verde fleet, destruc- 
273 



274 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



lion of, by American fleet, 

212. 
Capron, Captain, 87, 259. 
Caribbean Sea, roughness of, 

71- 

Cartridge pudding, 131. 
Cervcra, Admiral, 39, 109, 

206, 20g ; destruction of his 

fleet, 206 et seq. 
Chadwick, Captain, 24. 
"Chang" pie, 131. 
Cheevers, Private William, 

48 ; deatli of, from fever, 

257- 
Chickamauga, camp at, 53, 

57 ; departure of transports 
from, 60. 

Chidwick, Father, chaplain of 
the Maine, 25, 29. 

Chills and fever, 175. 

Cristobal Colon, Spanish war 
ship, 212. 

Clark, Captain, in command 
of Sylvia, 69. 

Clothing, list of, taken by au- 
thor, 64. 

Cocoanuts, 132. 

Colon Cemetery, Havana, 26. 

Coloured troops, jollity of, 

58 ; bravery of, 165 ; bold 
attack on .Spanish trenches, 
i6g. 

Converse, Captain, in com- 
mand of Montgomery, 21, 



Cowardice, Spanish sailors 
shot Ijy their officers for, 

Creedmoor, rifle ranges at, 48. 

Creelman, James, correspond- 
ent, 112, 113 ; bravery and 
wound of, at El Caney, 171, 
225. 

Crowninshield, Captain, com- 
mander of Maine, succeed- 
by Captain Sigsbee, 3. 

Crystal Spring Hotel, Kings- 
ton, Jamaica, 67. 

Cuban soldiers, 30 ; sickness 
and starvation of, 31 ; sad 
condition of, at Siboney, 
80, 84 ; Spanish sympa- 
thizers among, 174; Span- 
ish sailors in sea >hot by, 
214. 

Custom house, Havana, 6; 
spies from, 36; bribery of 
ofhcials of, 37. 

Dark room, 35, 100. 

Decker, Private, killed before 
.Santiago, 259. 

Disguises of Spanish and Cu- 
ban pickets, 115, 122. 

Divers on wreck of Maine, 
23 ; body of Lieutenant 
Jenkins recovered by, 24. 

Downs, Colonel, of Seventy- 
first Regiment, 255. 



Corsair, yacht. See (;U)uces- j Edwards, Colonel, 241. 

ter. I El Caney, charge at, 164 (-/j-fV/.; 



INDEX. 



275 



capture of, 165 ; bravery of 
Spanish officer at, 167 ; suf- 
fering and starvation of Cu- 
ban refugees at, 176 ; sur- 
render of blockhouse near, 
200. 
El Pozo, violent storm at, 
92, 144 ; old fort at, 146, 

153- 
Engineer Corps, good work 

of, at Siboney, TJ^ 
Eulate, Captain, in command 

of Viscaya, 208, 209, 211. 

First Cavalry, 237. 

Fish, Hamilton, 224. 

Flag, American. See Stars 

and Stripes. 
Flag, Cuban, presented by 

General Garcia to Mr. 

Hearst, 83. 
Flag, Spanish, 7 ; shot from 

ramparts of Morro, 109. 
Flushing, ferryboat, 253. 
Follaiisbee, J., member of 

expedition, 66, 13S, 144, 

146, 172 ; captures Spanish 

soldiers, 173. 
Forty-seventh Regiment, New- 
York Volunteers, 44. 
Fourteenth Regiment, New 

York Volunteers, 44. 
Furor, Spanish torpedo boat, 

210, 211. 

Gadalia, Seilor, 30. 

Garcia, General, arrival of, at 



Siboney, 80 ; visit to, 80 ; 
co-operates with General 
Shafter's forces, 81 ; pre- 
sents Cuban flag to Mr. 
Hearst, 83 ; photographed 
in group with Mr. Creel - 
man, 83 ; departure of, from 
Siboney, 85. 

Gloucester, formerly yacht 
Corsair, chases Pluton and 
Terror ashore, 211. 

GoiT, Sergeant Eugene W., 
48, 50 ; letter from, 256. 

Gonzalez, Senor, 30. 

Government, United States, 
instructions fro.-n, to photo- 
graph Maine, 3. 

(heenway, "Yale," Rough 
Rider, 243. 

Grimes, battery of, 95 ; in ac- 
tion, 148, 149. 

Guantanamo, 74, 114; our 
troops surprised at, 117, 
130, 134. 

Guerilla warfare of Cubans 
and Spaniards, 118. 

Hard-tack sandwiches, 131. 
Havana, the land sharks of. 

6 ; making photographs 

along water front of, 11 ; 

rowdyism at, 12 ; departure 

from, 39. 
Hearst, W. R., proprietor of 

New York Journal, 62 ; 

charters Sylvia, 65, 66 ; 

visits Admiral Sampson, 71, 



76 



CANNON' AND CAMERA. 



144, 146, 172 ; tako Sjiaiii>li 
sailors prisoners, 220. 
Hemment, j. C, arrives at 
Havana, 4 ; consults Cap- 
tain Sigsbee and Consul- 
( Icneral Lee, 9, 10 ; insulted 
t)y Spanish volunteers, 12, 
14 ; arrested for pholo- 
giaphing Fort I'unta, 18; 
escape by subterfuge, 19 ; 
boards and photographs 
cruisei' Montgomery, 22 ; 
photographs Maine wreck, 
23 ; visits Colon Cemetery, 
26 ; photographs bullfight, 
29 ; investigates reconcen- 
trados with .Senator Proctor, 
30 ; bribes custom-house 
oflicial>, 37 ; leaves Havana, 
39 ; visits Camp Black and 
camp at Chickamauga, 40 c'/ 
sc(]. ; packs up for Cuban 
expedition, 62 ; sails on 
Sylvia, 66 ; touches at 
Kingston, Jamaica, 67 ; ar- 
rives off Santiago de Cuba, 
70; visits Admiral Sampson 
and (leneral Shafter, 73, 74 ; 
lands at Silioney, 76 ; visits 
( "leneral Garcia, 80 ; follows 
on General Shafter's trail, 
S7 ; photographs graves of 
Rough Riders, 88 ; rings a 
bell at fort near El Pozo 
and arouses the Cubans, 93 ; 
photographs Santiago from 
the top of a tall tree, 95 ; 



ililticulties in Sylvia'> dark 
room, 99 ; sends photo- 
graphs to New York from 
Port Antonio, 103 ; witness- 
es bombardment of Morro, 
106 et seq. ; visits Edward 
Marshall on Olivette, in ; 
among the Cuban pickets, 
114 ct scq.; studies the 
campaign mule, 124; visits 
camps of regulars and vol- 
unteers, 130 ; watches siege 
of Santiago, 149 ; among 
the killed and wounded, 
153 ; bandages a wounded 
soldier, 159 ; the Seventy- 
first in action, 161 ; wit- 
nesses attack on El C"aney, 
164 ; fierce fight in the 
trenches, 169 ; difficulty in 
making photographs, 171 : 
suffering of our soldiers at 
El Caiiey, 175 ; with Roose- 
velt's Rough Riders, 179; 
photographs operating tents, 
186; sad scenes among the 
wounded, 18S ; buries and 
pravs over dead -oldier, 192 ; 
fired at bv sharpsliooters, 
197 ; in the trenches with 
the troops, 203 ; sees the 
destruction of Cervera's 
fleet, 206 et seq. ; photo- 
graphs stranded vessels, 
218 ^/ seq. ; meets Lieuten- 
ant Hobson, 228; ]ihoto- 
graph> return of the Rough 



INDEX. 



277 



Riders, 242 ; meets old 
friends at Camp WikofF, 
243 ; a few last words, 261 ; 
useful hints to photogra- 
phers, 262 et seq. 

Heroism of American soldiers, 
178. 

Hill, Bill, famous mule packer, 
127. 

Hobson, Lieutenant, 109, 202, 
206, 227, 228. 

Holzer, Father Chid wick's 
assistant, 26, 27. 

Hospital, First Division, 164, 
175, 185 ; operating tents 
photographed, 186. 

Illinois volunteers, 77. 
Indiana, United States war 
ship, 107. 
Iowa, United States war ship, 
107. 

Jenkins, Lieutenant, officer on 
Maine, i, 2 ; recovery of body 
of, from wreck, 24. 

Jersey City, inadequacy of 
transportation to, 58. 

Jim, J. C. Hemment's assist- 
ant, 136, 186; grazed by 
Mauser bullet, 199. 

Jones, Chaplain, fired at while 
burying soldiers, 118. 

Journal headquarters at Sibo- 
ney, 136 ; used as a hos- 
pital, 137. 

32 



Kane, Lieutenant Woodbury, 
Rough Rider, 48, 244. 

Key West, camp at, 53 ; mis 
management at, 59. 

Kingston, Jamaica, 66-68, 70. 

Kitchener, General Sir Her- 
bert, 261. 

Knobloch, the brothers, 244. 

Land crabs, 137. 

Larned, Rough Rider, 48, 244. 

Las Guasimas, where Rough 
Riders fought, 88, 120, 141, 
143- 

Lawton, General, battery un- 
der, in action, i6g. 

Lee, Fitzhugh, American con- 
sul general at Havana, 10, 
18, 41. 

Lesser, Dr , of the Red Cross 
Society, 79. 

Letter writing in camp, oddi- 
ties of, 133. 

Logan, Mrs. John A., at Camp 
Wikoff. 242. 

Long Island City, suffering of 
troops at, 54. 

Long, Secretary, of the navy, 
3- 

Machina. See Custom house. 

Maine, United States warship, 
blown up in Havana har- 
bour, I, 4, 5, 24, 25, 35. 

Mangoes, soldiers forbidden 
to eat, 132. 

Maria Teresa, Admiral Cerve- 



278 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



ra's llag^^hip, 210, 211, 220 ; 
havoc aboard, 221 ; relics 
from, 222, 226 ; floated and 
towed to Guanlanaino Bay, 
228. 

Marix, Lieutenant-Command- 
er, judge advocate on board 
of inquiry, 24, 25. 

Marshall, Edward, corre- 
spondent, wounded at Las 
Guasimas, iii, 112, 225. 

Massachusetts, United States 
war ship, 107. 

Massachusetts, volunteers 

from, 77. 

Matanzas, 30, 32. 

Mauser bullets, 157, 175, 184. 

McKinley, President, calls for 
volunteers, 41, 44. 

Medical sup])lics, list of, taken 
by author, 63. 

Miami, transport, arrival of, at 
Montauk Point with Rough 
Riders, 241. 

Mike, interpreter at Havana, 
17, 18. 

Miles, General, 229 ; consults 
with Shafter, 229 ; demands 
surrender of Santiago from 
General Toral, 233 ; gains 
surrender, 234. 

Miley, Lieutenant, 90. 

Military mismanagement, 237. 

Montauk I'oint as acamp site, 
236. 

Montgomery, American war 
ship, 16, 20, 21, 23. 



Morro Castle, Havana, 4, 16. 

Morro Castle, Santiago, bom- 
bardment of, 107. 

Mosquitoes, 8, 137. 

Mule, the, in the campaign, 
1246'/^-^^, 125, 129, 138. 

Naval Militia of New York, 
return and parade of, 239 ; 
splendid condition of, 240. 

New Orleans, United States 
war ship, 70. 

New York, Admiral Samp- 
son's flagship, 72 ; directs 
the bombardment of Morro, 
loS. 

Ninth Regiment, 142. 

"Old Glor)'." See Stars and 
Stripes. 

Olivette, hospital ship of Red 
Cross Society, 79, 112. 

Operating tents photo- 
graphed, 1 86. 

Oquendo, Spanish war ship. 
See Almirante Oquendo. 

Oregon, United States war 
ship, 108, 213, 

Pancoast, G., member of ex- 
pedition, 66. 

Pasaje Hotel, 6-8, 34. 

Philip, Captain, of Texas, 
107. 

Photographers, hints to ama- 
teur and professional, 262 
et seq. 



INDEX. 



279 



Photographic supplies, 3, 62, 
136. 

Photographs of Maine wreck 
fix the blame on the Span- 
ish, 25 ; first prints of, sent 
to United States, 103 ; of 
operating tents, 186 ; diffi- 
culty of making, during bat- 
tle, 171. 

Pickets, Cuban, among the, 
114 et seq., iig. 

Pickets, Spanish, disguises 
and ambushes of, 115 ; imi- 
tate calls of birds as signals, 
120. 

Pifiar del Rio, 30. 

Playa, headquarters of Gen. 
Shafter at, 89, 91, 137, 143. 

Pluton, Spanish torpedo boat, 
driven ashore by the Glou- 
cester, 211. 

Polo ponies, purchase of, at 
Kingston, 68. 

Port Antonio, Jamaica, 103, 
226. 

Potter, Commander, on board 
of inquiry, at Havana, 24. 

Powelson, Ensign, United 
States Navy, testifies on 
Maine explosion before 
board of inquiiy at Havana, 
24. 

Printing press on Sylvia, 66. 

Prisoners, Spanish, scared by 
camera, 200 ; arraigned be- 
fore General Shafter, 202 ; 
taken by Mr. Hearst and 



transferred to the St. Louis, 
220. 

Proctor, Senator, investiga- 
tion of condition of recon- 
centrados by, 30. 

Punta, Fort, in Havana har- 
bour, where author was ar- 
rested, 16. 

Red Cross Society, hospital 
ship of, 79, 158 ; aids killed 
by sharpshooters, 160 ; great 
strain on capacity of, 185. 

Refugees, Cuban, 139 ; apa- 
thy of, 140 ; suffering and 
starvation of, at El Caney, 
176, 177. 

Regulars, American, bravery 
of Ninth and Twenty-third 
Regiments, 88 ; assist the 
author to take photographs, 
89. 

Resolute, naval steamship, for- 
merly Ward liner Vorktown, 
213. 

Rio Tarquino, 212. 

Robustiano, Spanish boatman 
at Havana, 21. 

Roe, General, in command at 
Camp Black, 44. 

Roosevelt, Colonel Theodore, 
bravery of, 1 79 ; encourages 
his Rough Riders, 180 ; in- 
cident at Fort Hamilton, 180; 
protest by, against army re- 
maining in Cuba, 236 ; arriv- 
al of, at Montauk Point, 241. 



28o 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



Rough Riders, graves of, 141 
179 ; splendid organization 
of, 182; return home of the, 
236. 

Sailors, Spanish, shot in sea 
by Cubans, 214 ; taken pris- 
oners by Mr. Hearst, 220; 
shot by tiieir officers for 
cowardice, 222. 

St. Louis, naval despatch boat, 
220. 

Sampson, Admiral, on board 
of inquiry at Havana, 24, 
72 ; at Siboney when Cer- 
vera's fleet dashed out of 
Santiago, 208. 

Sanitary precautions, neglect 
of, 176. 

San Juan, Cuban outpost near, 

93- 

Santiago de Cuba, 70; photo- 
graph from tree, 95 ; siege 
of, 135 et scq. ; surrender 
of, 229 et seq. 

Schley, Admiral, directs de- 
struction of Cervera's fleet 
from flagshi]) IJrooklyn, 208. 

Seasickness, 3 ; as a prevent- 
ive of fever, 102. 

Seguranca, steamship, 3 ; (ien- 
eral Shafter's headquarters 
aboard, 73, 74. 

Seventy-first Regiment, New 
York Volunteers, arrival of, 
at Camp Black, 42 ; landing 
of, at Siboney, 77, 142 ; in a 



hot engagement, 161 ; gal- 
lantry of, 163 ; arrival of, at 
Montauk Point, 248 ; bad 
treatment of, at Camp 
Wikoff, 251 ; departure of, 
from Camp Wikoff, 254 ; 
warm reception and parade 
in New York, 256. 

Shafter, General, aboard Se- 
guranca, 73 ; visit to, 74 ; 
physi ;al unfitness of, for 
campaign, 75 ; gives per- 
mission to enter lines, 76 ; 
requests co-operation of 
General Garcia, 81 ; Hem- 
ment, in pursuit of, 87 ; re- 
connoissance by, 90 ; pho- 
tograph of, while halting at 
stream, 91 ; headquarters 
of, 144 ; headquarters of, 
fired on by Spanish sharp- 
shooters, 194 ; indisposition 
of, 195 ; Spanish prisoners 
arraigned before, 202 ; con- 
sults with General Miles, 
229. 

Sharpshooters, Spanish, kill 
Red Cross aids, 160 ; fire 
from steeple, 166 ; dislodged 
by colored troopers, 167 ; in 
action, 194 ct seq. ; fire on 
Shafter's headquarters, 194 ; 
dislodged by Fifth Artiller}', 

195. 
Shrapnel, Spanish, 148, 153, 

158, 179. 
Siboney, 73 ; landing of troops 



INDEX. 



281 



at, 76 ; repulse of Spaniards 
at, 77 ; hospital headquar- 
ters at, 79, 143, 226. 

Sigsbee, Captain, succeeds 
Captain Crowninshield in 
command of Maine, 3, y, 25. 

Simpson, tug, 73. 

Sixteenth Regiment, 142. 

Soldiers, Spanish regular, 
brutality and licentiousness 
of> 31 ; ignorance and lack 
of discipline of, 32 ; coward- 
ice of, on train, 33. 

Spanish officer, bravery of, at 
El Caney, 167 

Stars and Stripes, 21, 39 ; 
Spanish prisoners cheer, 225. 

Sugar house near San Juan, 

1-45- 

Sunstroke, wagon driver af- 
fected by, 186. 

Suwanee, naval vessel, iii, 
21S. 

Sylvia, ocean steamsliip, char- 
tered by Mr. Hearst, 65 ; 
touches at Kingston, Jamai- 
ca, 66 ; boarded by officer 
from New Orleans, 70 ; 
leaves Siboney for Port An- 
tonio, 99 ; difficult work in 
dark room of, 100 ; arrival 
of, at Port Antonio, 103 ; 
zecil of crew of, 104 ; in 
thick of naval attack on 
Morro Castle, no ; ordered 
out of danger, in ; wit- 
nesses destruction of Cer- 



vera's ileet, 209 ; Spanish 
prisoners transferred from, 
to the St. Louis, 220 ; 
wounded correspondents 
Creelman and Marshall 
conveyed on board of, 225. 

Tampa, camp at, 53. 
Telegram, characteristic, from 

Rough Rider to his girl, 246. 
Tenting, Cuban method of, 

131- 
Texas, United States war ship, 

107, 213, 225. 
Thirty-second Regiment 

(Michigan), 77. 
Tiffany, Sergeant William, 

Rough Rider, 246. 
Transports, abuses on, 60. 
Trenches, life in, 203, 204. 
Twenty-fourth Regiment, 142. 

Vesuvius, United States war 
ship, shelling of Morro 
Castle, Santiago, by, 108. 

Viscaya, Spanish war ship, 
208, 211 ; wreck of, photo- 
graphed, 215 ; havoc 
wrought on, by American 
shells, 216. 

Vixen, United States steam- 
ship, III, 213. 

Volunteers, American, frater- 
nize with regulars, 56. 

Volunteers, Spanish, 8 ; fe- 
rocity of, 12 ; hated by Cu- 
bans, 13-15. 



282 



CANNON AND CAMERA. 



Vultures prey on dead, 175, 
197, 214. 

Wadsworth, Craig, Rough 
Rider, 244. 

Wainwright, Lieutenant-Com- 
mander, executive officer of 
Maine, 10. 

Water, tested for poison, 13J. 

Watson, Commodore, pro- 
posed expedition of, to 
Spain, 240. 

Wheeler, General, 241. 

Wikoff. See Camp WikofF. 

Wingate, General, 48. 

Wood, Major, 185. 



Wounded, American, suffer- 
ing of, at EI Caney, 176 ; no 
stimulants for, 187 ; hard 
fare of, 188 ; neglect of, 
near San Juan, 189 ; shot 
by comrades, 190 ; heroism 
of, 192. 

Wrenn, Rough Rider, 48, 244. 

Yankee, United States steam- 
er, formerly Morgan liner 
El Norte, 239. 

Yorktown, steamship. See 
Resolute. 

\'oung. General, 139, 242. 

Yucatan, steamship, 39, 40. 



THE END. 



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